http://www.nzso.co.nz/ News en-nz Thu, 11 Mar 2010 06:03:33 +1200 Thu, 11 Mar 2010 06:03:33 +1200 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss onClick(TM) - http://www.onclick.co.nz http://www.nzso.co.nz/news_and_media/nzso_blog/_view/id_28/jobs_at_the_nzso See our current vacancies http://www.nzso.co.nz/about_us/employment Thu, 11 Feb 2010 12:11 +1200 http://www.nzso.co.nz/news_and_media/nzso_blog/_view/id_27/nzso_concertmaster_vesamatti_leppnen_takes_part_in_a_social_experiment_for_campbell_live Do we not recognise talent and beauty unless we’ve paid good money for it? Watch NZSO Concertmaster Vesa-Matti Leppänen on TV3's Campbell Live to find out Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:09 +1200 http://www.nzso.co.nz/news_and_media/nzso_blog/_view/id_26/in_miniature_and_on_the_road__south_island_tour NZSO in Miniature and on the Road - South Island Tour NZSO in Miniature and on the Road kicks off in March with a series of fun family concerts featuring an ensemble of 20 players in the local communities of Nelson, Westport, Greymouth, Christchurch, and Oamaru. These concerts introduce audiences to the instruments, sections and musicians of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. Each musician performs a different instrument of the orchestra and will give audiences an interactive presentation. The concerts feature solo performances and a programme of arrangements for this original ensemble of classic favourites such as Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture and Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks, other much-loved favourites and a few surprises! As part of the NZSO in Miniature tour the NZSO will also perform school concerts in Christchurch, Dunedin and Timaru, giving local school children the chance to see the NZSO in action. Tickets go on sale on 19th February so keep a look out in The Press , Nelson Mail , Greymouth Star , Westport News and Oamaru Mail for booking details, or just visit the NZSO website from 19th February for details on where to book! Ticket prices: $10 Adult $5 Children Family Tickets: $15 for 1 adult and 2 children / $20 for 2 adults and 2 children Mon, 08 Feb 2010 12:08 +1200 http://www.nzso.co.nz/news_and_media/nzso_blog/_view/id_23/2009_todd_young_composer_announced The NZSO Todd Young Composers Award is the NZSO’s education programme’s flagship composition project. Taking place annually, the award gives young New Zealand composers the opportunity to have an original work written for full orchestra rehearsed and recorded by the full force of the NZSO. This year we received a record breaking 32 entries. Of these, 12 works were selected by the adjudication panel of noted composer Ross Harris, conductor Hamish McKeich and principal NZSO percussionist Lenny Sakofsky to be workshopped and recorded. After an exciting 2 days of workshops, rehearsals and recording sessions, the panel made the decision to present the award to Natalie Hunt for her work Rain II . Natalie was also the 2009 National Youth Orchestra composer-in-residence, for which her work Only to the Highest Mountain was included in the NYO 50th Anniversary concert tour to Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. The orchestra’s choice award, which was based on feedback from members of the orchestra, was awarded Robbie Ellis for his work Feral, followed closely by Natalie Hunt and Tabea Squire’s piece Vee Dub and the Little Tiger go wandering All of the pieces recoded as part of the 2009 NZSO Todd Young Composers Award will be broadcast as part of a Radio New Zealand’s Young New Zealand programming in October. Thu, 27 Aug 2009 12:27 +1200 http://www.nzso.co.nz/news_and_media/nzso_blog/_view/id_21/film_stars_of_the_nzso The musicians of the NZSO play a starring role in Tom Scott's new film "Separation City" opening in more than 44 cinemas nationwide from Thursday 6th August. As well as starring on screen, the NZSO perform the soundtrack for the film as well! Late 2008 saw the cameras in rehearsal with the NZSO filming scenes for the movie with an international cast including Australian actor Joel Edgerton ("Kinky Boots", "The Secret Life of Us"); British actor Rhona Mitra ("Boston Legal", "Underworld - The Rise of the Lycans"), German actor Thomas Kretschmann ("King Kong", "The Pianist"), stunning Kiwi actress Danielle Cormack ("A Song of Good", "Rude Awakenings"); and fellow Australian Les Hill ("Underbelly", "Thank God He Met Lizzie"). "Separation City" is a bittersweet comedy drama about falling out of love for the very first time, how unrequited love lasts forever while requited love comes with a use-by date. This is a sophisticated, contemporary story about courtship, mate-ship and jumping ship. Watch a preview clip of the film here ! Fri, 24 Jul 2009 12:24 +1200 http://www.nzso.co.nz/news_and_media/nzso_blog/_view/id_17/gungho__cd_from_nzso_principal_trombonist_david_bremner GUNG-HO is the new solo CD from NZSO principal trombonist David Bremner, featuring the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the National Band of New Zealand, Sarah Watkins (Piano) and Lenny Sakofski (Percussion). With a mix of standard trombone repertoire, transcriptions, and premiers by leading New Zealand composers, this CD has something for everyone. Track listing: 1. Paul Creston - Fantasy for Trombone (with piano accompaniment)* (12' 32'') 2. Franz Strauss - Nocturno* (6' 44'') 3. J Guy Ropartz - Pièce in E flat minor* (7' 23'') 4. Anthony Ritchie - Clouds. 2008 National Band of New Zealand; Howard Taylor, conductor; recorded November 2008. (9' 11'') 5. Kenneth Young - Panic (3' 57'') 6. 3 Leider, transcribed and edited by Mark Lawrence. - I. Richard Strauss - Allerseelen* (3' 33'') 7. - II. Johannes Brahms - Von ewiger Liebe (Of Eternal Love)* (4' 48'') 8. - III. Richard Strauss - Das Rosenband (3' 30'')* 9. Chris Gendall - Gung-Ho. Sarah Watkins, piano; Leonard Sakofsky, percussion. (9' 08'') 10. Gareth Farr - Funambulistic Strains. New Zealand Symphony Orchestra; James Judd, conductor; recorded August 2007. (9' 32'') * with Sarah Watkins, piano. Paul Creston's Fantasy is one of my favourite pieces, and it was one of the first pieces I chose for this CD. I love it as a recital work with piano, even though most pianists are not fans. Nocturno by Franz Strauss is one of the most beautiful pieces I have ever heard, and one of those extremely rewarding pieces to perform. Like the Creston, J G Ropartz's Pièce in E flat minor is a wonderful recital work, and a very enjoyable work with many challenges. I commissioned Ken Young to write Panic for the CD. The idea I had was for a short intense work pushing the limits of the trombone, and Ken was happy to oblige. Clouds was a commission from the National Band of New Zealand for our tour to Asia and Europe. The work received many performances around Europe, and was the featured solo work in the bands programme at the World Championships in Kerkrade, Netherlands. The world premiere was actually given in Essen, Germany. The band had already been in Europe for a week, and I had to leave late from NZ. I finished a recording session in Wellington and jumped on the plane to London and then the connecting flight to Cologne, where I caught a long taxi ride to the hall in Essen. I arrived in time to have a shower at the hall and then straight on stage, was a fun night. The three lieder by Strauss and Brahms are beautifully arranged by Mark Lawrence. Both my teachers have stressed to me the importance of listening to singers, and so it was natural to include a couple of vocal pieces on this CD. Gung-Ho by Chris Gendall was a commission for this CD. Chris is currently studying composition in New York, and has a huge career ahead of him, so I was really pleased he agreed to write 'Gung-Ho' for the CD. Gareth Farr wrote Funambulistic Strains in a series of commissions the NZSO made to pair up their principal players with New Zealand composers. I was lucky enough to have Gareth write this work for trombone and orchestra, and we premiered it in Christchurch on the 26th of July 2006. A funambulist is an acrobat who performs on a tight rope, and performing this piece feels much like this. CD¹s are $30, and available now! Click here Tue, 12 May 2009 12:12 +1200 http://www.nzso.co.nz/news_and_media/nzso_blog/_view/id_15/follow_us_on_twitter Become a follower of the NZSO tweets. http://twitter.com/NZSO What does it mean to follow someone on Twitter? Following someone simply means receiving their Twitter updates. When you follow someone, every time they post a new message, it will appear in your Twitter home page. New messages are added to your home page as people post them, so you always get the updates in real time. When you log in, you can see what the latest updates are. Twitter offers other ways to follow people too: you can get updates from certain people on your phone! Other ways to connect to the NZSO: Find us on Facebook Search: New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and on Myspace Thu, 26 Mar 2009 12:26 +1200 http://www.nzso.co.nz/news_and_media/nzso_blog/_view/id_13/nzso_perform_soundtrack_for_feature_film_dean_spanley Introducing “Dean Spanley” Original Motion Picture Soundtrack The NZSO has recorded the music for the original motion picture soundtrack of "Dean Spanley". Music composed and orchestrated by Don McGlashan Performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra February 26 sees the New Zealand release of both the new feature film from No.2 director Toa Fraser entitled “Dean Spanley", and the accompanying original soundtrack by Don McGlashan. Starring Peter O'Toole, Jeremy Northam, Sam Neill and Bryan Brown, the film is based on Irish author Lord Dunsany's novel “My Talks with Dean Spanley”. Dean Spanley received a gala premiere at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, and showed at the London Film Festival and the Pusan International Film Festival, before going on general release in the UK in December 2008. It was hailed as the “film of the year” by GQ magazine. Note from the composer: I read the script to Dean Spanley in December 07, and saw an early assembly in the New Year. I loved the strangeness of the story and the precision of the dialogue, and I was keen to start work, but security concerns meant that I didn’t get to see much else until mid April when I finally got the cut. (Two other people and a dog had been allowed to see rough versions in the interim, but they had disappeared in mysterious circumstances.) Undeterred, I went home and wrote some pieces that reminded me of the story, hoping that I was remembering the correct film. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise: away from the tyranny of the edit, my ideas could range free, and when the pictures arrived, it seemed that my music could stick up for itself a little better than it would have otherwise. The rest of the composition process was anything but conventional. I wrote more sketches in a friend’s spare bedroom in London to play to director Toa Fraser and the producers in the edit suite, then refined the layout of the music with Toa and editor Chris Plummer (luckily for me, two people with excellent musical instincts). Then I was invited at short notice to tour the US with Crowded House, so I wrote most of the rest of the score in tour buses travelling from one show to the next across the States, emailing demos to Toa in London, before sending the finished files to Gareth Farr, my orchestration assistant (in various parts of the world) then to Philip Griffin, our copyist (in Adelaide) then finally to Mable Wong, the immensely patient librarian at the NZSO in Wellington. “It’s a beautiful film: about fathers and sons, about the known and the unknowable, about laying past ghosts and setting off into an adventurous future. It’s been a pleasure to be a part of it.” - Don McGlashan Review excerpts: “A uniquely charming, seductive and unexpected spin on the careworn English costume drama” Time Out “Rolls along miraculously…borne aloft by Don McGlashan's attentive score” New Statesman “Instantly inviting and utterly original…if you fall for Dean Spanley, you’ll fall hard.” Empire Magazine (4 out 5) “A moving and visually wondrous evocation of magic and imagination” Screen International Album notes: All music written by Don McGlashan and performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra with the exception of: “Wrather’s Gramophone” Written by Don McGlashan, performed by the Seven Sisters “Justorum Animae” Written by William Byrd, performed by Musica Sacra “O Where shall wisdom be found” Written by William Boyce, performed by Musica Sacra “Jerusalem” Written by Hubert Parry Arranged by Don McGlashan, performed by Kim Hegan The soundtrack was released digitally worldwide in December 2008, and will be released in New Zealand February 26 2009 on CD/Online through Mana Music. CD distribution via Warner Music; digital distribution via DRM Ltd. Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Music composed and orchestrated by Don McGlashan Performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra Additional performances by Musica Sacra, the Seven Sisters and Kim Hegan. Conductors: Mark Taddei and Don McGlashan Tracklisting: 1 Opening 2 Jerusalem, Swami Prash 3 Wrather Takes Leave 4 What’s Our Loss, Henslow Reflects 5 Truth Deferred, Wrather’s Treasure 6 Pouring Tokay, More Things In Heaven And Earth 7 Justorum Animae (Byrd) 8 Remembering Wag, The Dream Dreams You 9 O Where Shall Wisdom Be Found (Boyce) 10 Wrather's Gramophone 11 Greatest Adventure 12 Marrakesh 13 One Of The Seven 14 End Credits Tue, 24 Feb 2009 12:24 +1200 http://www.nzso.co.nz/news_and_media/nzso_blog/_view/id_11/another_outstanding_review_for_the_nzso_and_pietari_inkinen_in_gramophone_magazine_february_2009 Gramophone,the world's best classical music magazine, reviews the latest NZSO Sibelius CD, conducted by Music Director Pietari Inkinen, February 2009 BBC Radio 3 votes NZSO's Sibelius CD of the week, February 2009 Fri, 20 Feb 2009 12:20 +1200 http://www.nzso.co.nz/news_and_media/nzso_blog/_view/id_12/bbc_radio_3_votes_nzsos_sibelius_cd_of_the_week BBC Radio 3 votes NZSO's Sibelius CD of the week Thu, 19 Feb 2009 12:19 +1200