Classical 7 | TheatreRoyal

The Nelson Civic Choir welcomes you to its 2016 programme with Mozart's Requiem, conducted by Carl Browning, with organist Michael Bell accompanying. The soloists are soprano Helen Charlton, alto Erica Sim, tenor Ewen Griffith, and bass Robert Tucker; the choir is joined by singers from Golden Bay and Motueka.

The story of the Requiem's composition has an eerie quality, which has been much embroidered. In his final weeks, Mozart was working on a Mass for the Dead, an anonymous commission delivered by an unknown visitor - like a messenger from another world. The work was unfinished at his death, and the Levin completion sung here is one of many. In the 1960s a sketch for an Amen fugue was discovered, which Levin developed for this version. The Requiem's musical themes are lyrical and memorable, and the work serves as an appropriate tribute to the great composer himself.

Nelson Symphony Orchestra presents French Connection

A symphony concert of French music featuring cellist Lissa Cowie.
Conductor: John Rimmer

Programme:
Berlioz: Roman Carnival
Debussy: Petite Suite
Ravel: La Valse
Bizet: Symphony in C
Faure: Elegie

The Nelson School of Music continues its fundraising programme with a variety concert at the Theatre Royal with a spectacular all-star Nelson line up.

Closed in December 2013 because of earthquake risk the School is about to commence construction as part of its restrengthening and redevelopment plan which will not only include making safe the 115 year old heritage auditorium but will also include the development of a state of the art music school on the current Rainey House site.

Performers will include five piece women’s folk group Cairde who are reforming especially for the concert. Coincidentally Cairde’s final concert was the last to be staged in the School before it was closed. They have released three CDs and already excitement is building about them taking to the stage again.

String quartet La Vida are well known around the region for their concert presentations and performances at wedding and high-class functions. They recently played to a full house at the release of their first CD.

Nelson’s leading world music choir Mosaic sang to a full house in the Nelson Arts Festival when they performed there in 2014 and will be singing a variety of songs from around the world including favourites from Africa.

Nathan Torvik and Siobhan Sweeney, otherwise known as Polly and the Minstrel are sought after artists in the Nelson region and it’s a rare treat to hear them on stage. Their style consists of wonderfully spacious interpretations of songs from folk to reggae which defy genre expectations.

Kicking off the evening will a be music from the Celtic nations performed by Gael Force. First formed in the mid-1980’s Gael Force has undergone various iterations and currently features Bob Bickerton, Brendyn Montgomery and Davy Stuart playing foot-tapping dance tunes and soulful airs.

The evening will finish with a gypsy jazz extravaganza featuring Django Schmango, a potpourri of guitarists and violin played in the style of Django Reinhardt.

The New Zealand Combined Choir and Orchestra Trust organises an Annual Summer School of Music at The Teapot Valley residential centre. It invites international conductors and this year Ebbe Munk, conductor of the Danish Royal Chapel Choir will direct the choir to perform Donizetti's Messa di Requiem at Old St John's on Sunday January 24 at 2pm.

Soloists this year are Olivia Sheet (soprano), Helen Charlton (mezzo), Manase Latu (tenor), Graham O'Brien (bass) and Robert Tucker (bass).

The concert commemorates the life of St David Willcocks (1919-2015)

The London Conchord Ensemble is one of Europe's leading chamber ensembles. They are known for their imaginative programming, which has won them many accolades in their twelve-year history. This is their debut New Zealand tour, taking them to ten centres nationwide.

This superb UK collective of musicians is dividing in half for part of their debut NZ tour - their Nelson/Palmerston North concert features flute, oboe, bassoon and cello.

This instrumental combination features Bach's first Cello Suite, Villa-Lobos' Bachianas Brasilieras No. 6 (flute and bassoon), Mozart's Sonata in Bb K292 (bassoon and cello), Ginastera's Duo Op. 13 (flute and oboe), and two works by Beethoven.

Daniel Pailthorpe (flute), Emily Pailthorpe (oboe), Andrea de Flammineis (bassoon), Thomas Carroll (cello)

There will be a Prelude Talk at 4.15pm with CMNZ Artistic Manager, Catherine Gibson.

"...the London Supergroup...playing with panache, wit and discreet sensitivity in performances that are a constant joy." - Gramophone Magazine

The Mozart and Brahms Quintet Experience with Grammy-nominated American violist James Dunham on a special tour highlighting masterpieces from Brahms and Mozart.

When Mozart wrote his first double-viola quintet, he created a new sound world that he continued to explore for the rest of his life. His later quintets are at the pinnacle of the chamber music repertoire. A century later, Brahms was inspired to write two of his most eloquent chamber works for the same combination. And this year, young NZ composer Salina Fisher has been commissioned to write a work to accompany these works by Mozart and Brahms.

Programme:
Mozart: String Quintet No. 5 in D K593
Salina Fisher: New work (CMNZ commission)
Brahms: String Quintet No. 1 in F 'Spring' Op. 88

British clarinet prodigy Julian Bliss is back in the country, joining forces with our own adventurous NZTrio. This is an opportunity to hear one of the finest living clarinetists with one of New Zealand's leading ensembles.

At the heart of their collaboration is Messiaen's seminal Quartet for the End of Time, whose wit and beauty belie the fact that it was composed in a German prisoner-of-war camp. Alongside this classic is an inspired and evocative new work written for the ensemble by Ross Harris. Julian Bliss will dazzle you with Debussy's Première Rhapsodie and Milhaud's Suite for violin, clarinet and piano.

"Bliss must no longer be regarded merely as a great talent, but rather as a consummate master of his instrument." - Fanfare Magazine

Programme:
Debussy | Première Rhapsodie
Milhaud | Suite for violin, clarinet and piano
Ross Harris | There may be light (CMNZ commission)
Messiaen | Quartet for the End of Time

In 2015 Suyeon Kang became the first Australian to win the coveted Michael Hill International Violin Competition; also taking home the Audience Prize.

New Zealand pianist Stephen De Pledge joins Suyeon Kang on her NZ tour, with a programme showcasing the many facets of the violin.
They'll interweave works by Mozart, Ravel, Schubert and Stravinsky with a delightful work for solo violin by New Zealand composer Kenneth Young.

"…at times playing with a delicate sensitivity and at others with a passionate intensity." - National Business Review

Presented in association with Michael Hill International Violin Competition.

Maureen Nelson, violin
Ken Hamao, violin
Melissa Reardon, viola
Richard Belcher, cello

The New York-based Enso String Quartet return to New Zealand following their successful 2012 tour, with an exciting series of concerts. One of the United States' most accomplished and inventive young ensembles, they received a Grammy nomination for their recording of the Ginastera quintets.

They are bringing their energetic Ginastera interpretations to local audiences, performing his Quartet No. 2 Op. 26. It is paired with Haydn's 'Sun' Quartet and Sibelius' Quartet in D minor Op. 56.

The concert also features an exquisite miniature from Auckland-based composer Alex Taylor - a new commission written especially for this Enso String Quartet tour.

"Enso played it with full-throated dramatic intensity" - Washington Post

Our box office is open: Monday-Friday, 12-4pm; plus one hour before showtime for ticket pickups & purchases for the show about to start.

Our box office is open:
Monday-Friday, 12-4pm; plus one hour before showtime for ticket pickups & purchases for the show about to start.