"You could see the joy in the performers' faces and movements as much as you could hear it in the playing." - The New York Times

Juilliard415 represent the best-of-the-best early-music ensemble from the Julliard School, with a reputation for combining youthful energy with poise, precision, and a luminous sound. For this New Zealand tour, J415 join forces with maestro Masaaki Suzuki, hugely esteemed for his performances and recordings of Bach.

The programme concentrates on Bach and Handel, the giants of the baroque era. It will give audiences a tantalising taste of Bach's work, and guarantees an evening of luminous, vital performances.

There will be a prelude event before the concert. Check http://www.chambermusic.co.nz for more updates.

For the most dedicated chamber music enthusiast we're again offering a Festival Pass which will give premium seat entry to all festival events (except the Gala Dinner. Tickets to the Gala Dinner are now also on sale). In addition to enjoying the best seats in the house, Festival Pass holders will enjoy two very special complimentary and exclusive events.

The first is a excursion up country to the beautiful Nelson Lakes National Park to hear English cellist Matthew Barley perform to the backdrop of mountains and lake in the Chapel by the Lake at St Arnaud. This will be followed by a sumptuous lunch at the Alpine Lodge.

The second will be a trip to the Moutere plains to hear the Goldner Quartet from Australia perform with Canadian clarinetist James Campbell in the delightful Waimea West church. This will be followed by a picnic lunch at the beautiful Neudorf Winery.

These two events are exclusive to our Festival Pass holders and Impresario Donors. As well as enjoying all the concerts and masterclasses, festival pass holders will be invited to any meet the artist social events and will be welcomed very much as part of our festival family. Festival passes can be booked online here. Festival Pass sales close on 30th September.

The Theatre Royal and festival staff will be in touch regarding seating allocation for reserved seated events.

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.

Programme:
Bach | Suite No. 1 in G BWV1007
Villa-Lobos | Bachianas Brasileiras No. 6
Beethoven | Variations on "La ci darem la mano" from Mozart's Don Giovanni
Ginastera | Duo Op. 13
Mozart | Sonata in B flat K292
Beethoven | Serenade Op. 25

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

Programme:
Mozart | Sonata in Eb D380
Ravel | Sonata No. 1 in A minor 'Posthume'
Schubert | Sonatina in G minor
Kenneth Young | Gone
Stravinsky | Divertimento

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

Grammy-nominated pianist and composer Uri Caine uses classical music as a springboard for jazz improvisation.

Caine's collaborations extend from the Beaux Arts Trio to John Zorn, and from the Woody Herman Band to the Moscow Chamber Orchestra. The New York-based musician studied composition with George Crumb and George Rochberg, and is lauded for his albums of improvisations on works by Mozart, Beethoven, Wagner, Mahler and Schumann.

This exciting solo appearance includes improvisations on works by Scarlatti, Mozart, Mahler and Albéniz. Caine will also perform some jazz standards, along with his own original compositions.

"The easy, unforced energy of the playing was a delight." - The Telegraph

Beautiful borrowings, ceaseless invention, wit and expertise.

Immerse yourself in a superb programme featuring some of the great works of the Russian canon. From the lush Romantic repertoire we'll bring you Rachmaninov's Two Movements for String Quartet, written when he was just a teenager, and the Quartet no 1 by his idol Tchaikovsky, containing the famous Andante cantabile that moved Tolstoy to tears when he first heard it. In stark contrast, Shostakovich's powerful 3rd String Quartet will take you on an emotional journey through the psychological minefield the composer was forced to navigate in the war-torn Soviet Union of the 1940s. Whether you're a confirmed 'Russophile', a chamber music devotee or a complete newcomer to our concerts, we're confident you'll be moved, one way or another, by these Russian masterpieces.

Programme One
Rachmaninov: Two Movements for String Quartet
Shostakovich: String Quartet no. 3 in F, op 73
INTERVAL
Tchaikovsky: String Quartet no. 1 in D, op 11