Say Meri Kirihimete with the gift of music!

Celebrate Christmas and the summer holidays with the gift of NZSO concert tickets. We have a wide variety of performances in 2024, from Mahler’s fabulous Fifth Symphony to Holst’s brilliant The Planets, and much more! There’s something for all ages and music preferences.

NZSO Members can now buy tickets to our exciting Season 2024, which includes a star-studded line-up of international artists and exceptional programmes.

An NZSO Membership costs just $30 a year (full membership) or $10 (lite). Save on booking fees, get discounted tickets, access preferential booking periods and enjoy a personalised service.

To make purchasing your tickets easier, NZSO Members can now select seats for any concert at the Michael Fowler Centre or Auckland Town Hall when booking online. This gives you a more streamlined process and instant confirmation of where you’ll be sitting.

You can also purchase tickets through the NZSO Ticketing Office by calling 0800 479 674 10am-4pm, Mon-Fri or email Ticketing@nzso.co.nz.

Bookings are now open online for NZSO Members. The 2024 Season brochure is also on its way and will be with Members soon.

For all the benefits of becoming an NZSO Member click on the link below.

We also have Gift Vouchers available!

Holiday break

The NZSO offices close at 4pm on Thursday 21 December for the Orchestra Support team to take a well-deserved break.

Our Ticketing team return on Monday 8 January 10am-4pm Monday to Friday to help with booking your tickets to the NZSO’s Mātātoa Intrepid Adventures Season 2024.

NZSO Members can still purchase tickets online at nzso.co.nz while the office is closed during the break.

Summerset is proud to be Principal Partner of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra

At Summerset we have a commitment and desire to give back to New Zealand communities and organisations, and our partnership with the NZSO enables us to support many immersive experiences that enrich and inspire audiences, support exceptional talent and bring the celebration of music to our residents.

We enjoy being able to bring cultural and enriching experiences to our residents. In addition to having in-village performances by small groups from the orchestra, this year we were also able to offer exclusive behind-the-scenes experiences including attending live rehearsals and getting to know the NZSO musicians. 

We are delighted to be embarking on the third year of our partnership, and we look to the 2024 programme theme of “Intrepid Adventures” to inspire us to continue pushing boundaries, embracing new opportunities and making a positive impact on our communities through the well-being power of music.

Here’s to another year of intrepid adventures and shared triumphs.

Scott Scoullar
CEO, Summerset

Join us for a free Christmas concert at Te Papa this Sunday!

It’s beginning to sound a lot like Christmas, thanks to the NZSO’s unmissable brass concert at Te Papa this Sunday at 3pm.

An ensemble of NZSO brass players with conductor Reuben Brown perform some of the best known and loved Christmas and holiday season songs.

This whānau-friendly selection includes The Christmas Song, The Little Drummer Boy, It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, Winter Wonderland and more. Aotearoa New Zealand also features the captivating Te Harinui.

Christmas Brass @ Te Papa is performed in Te Papa’s Atrium on Level 2.

‘Beautiful and unique’ ­– NZSO part of Tāwharautia Mataatua in Whakatāne

Next week the NZSO performs in Whakatāne as part of an exciting partnership with renowned artist Tāme Iti, Te Mira Collective and Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi.

Tāwharautia Mataatua from 7pm on 09 December at Te Hau Tutua Park, involves 80 artists and features 16 NZSO players, led by acclaimed conductor Tom Rainey. The free performance also features talented multi-instrumentalist Laughton Kora and two of Aotearoa New Zealand’s best singers and recording stars Whirimako Black and Maisey Rika.

The event, at the mouth of the Whakatāne River, holds profound significance for the Mataatua people of the Bay of Plenty.

Tāwharautia Mataatua is a multi-media performance, which redefines Māori art and storytelling. The performance delves into the narratives of Mātaatua Waka’s descendents, bridging past, present and future to merge traditional storytelling with avant-garde artistic flair.

The concert is part of several events in Whakatāne from 06 December, including pop-up performances and educational workshops, which includes contributions from NZSO players.

Tāwharautia Mataatua Creative Director Toi Iti says: “We were clear that we had to sit at the table as respectful equals with the NZSO and Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi, in order to enter the creative process in the right way. They have honoured that commitment. The formation of this collaborative model within the arts sector has been a big part of the innovation of the funding, and I believe it has produced something both beautiful and unique.”

Groundbreaking collaboration between NZSO & Muslim community

The NZSO’s Mātātoa Intrepid Adventures Season 2024 opens with a unique collaboration between the Orchestra and Aotearoa New Zealand’s Muslim Community to mark the fifth anniversary of the Christchurch mosque attacks. Beyond Words, to be performed in Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland in March, will premiere a new work Ahlan wa Sahlan by acclaimed New Zealand composer John Psathas in collaboration with oud player Kyriakos Tapakis and vocalist OUM.

Beyond Words in March bridges Eastern and Western music traditions and features Tapakis, a master of the Middle Eastern stringed instrument the oud, and Moroccan vocalist and poet OUM. The NZSO will be led by Muslim conductor Fawzi Haimor.

“It is not often one has the opportunity to offer a message of solidarity, love, and compassion through one’s artistic work,” says composer John Psathas.

“This is a rare gift from the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, and I am even more fortunate to be able to share this creative journey with two fellow artists: OUM and one of Greece’s most celebrated oud performers, Kyriakos Tapakis. Together we are creating a musical message of welcoming – Ahlan wa Sahlan – a greeting used to tell someone that they’re where they belong, that they’re a part of this place and they are welcome here. It’s a way of saying ‘You’re with your people’.”

Beyond Words is performed in Wellington as part of Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts and in the Auckland Arts Festival. The three concerts will serve as a prelude to Unity Week, the official commemoration to be held the week of 15 March.

The concert also features Umoja, Anthem of Unity by Valerie Coleman, Funebre by Iranian composer Reza Vali and Silouan’s Song by Estonian composer Arvo Pärt.

Mana Moana with the NZSO and Signature Choir out now!

Now you can enjoy Mana Moana – a fusion of much-loved Pasifika songs sung by the acclaimed Signature Choir with music by the NZSO ­– whenever you want!                                                                 

The album Mana Moana Live at the Michael Fowler Centre is now available on music streaming platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube Music.

Recorded in December 2022, it was the first time the NZSO has collaborated with Signature Choir. The result was an unforgettable evening for the choir, the Orchestra, and an enthralled audience from Wellington’s Pasifika communities.

The album release comes just days after our second Mana Moana performance with Signature Choir, held in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland on 24 November.

What a night! An audience of more than 6,800 at Spark Arena, largely from the Pasifika community, joined the Orchestra and choir for an evening of joyful singing and dancing in the aisles!

New Zealand Herald reviewer Varsha Anjali was overwhelmed by what she witnessed on stage with the NZSO led by Brent Stewart and Signature Choir by Music Director Helen Tupai.

 “This is what community is. This is what passion is. This is what celebration is. Mana Moana, this was a privilege.”

Mana Moana Live at the Michael Fowler Centre, recorded by RNZ, features 10 songs from across the South Pacific.

Young composer in the zone with twilight-inspired work

When composer Henry Meng encountered ‘crepuscule’ as another word for ‘twilight’, he wondered: “When am I ever going to use this word in my life?”

It became one of the inspirations for his piece Apparitions of the Crepuscule and now a milestone in his music career.

On 29 November Henry won the prestigious Young Composer Award at the NZSO Todd Corporation Young Composer Awards for Apparitions of the Crepuscule.

Another young composer, Sai Natarajan, won the Orchestra Choice – chosen by NZSO players – for the piece Stargazer.

Both Henry and Sai were also Young Composer Award finalists last year and will have works performed in the NZSO’s Jubilation concert in May and June next year.

“Twilight is that day of when things are becoming murky,” says Henry. “Strange things may occur in obscurity, and this piece explores the more sinister of such happenings.”

This year their works were two of eight by young composers chosen to be performed by the Orchestra, led by Music Director Emeritus James Judd, and recorded by RNZ Concert at the Michael Fowler Centre in Wellington.

Now in its 19th year, the NZSO Todd Corporation Young Composer Awards is open to composers up to the age of 25.

Acclaimed New Zealand composer Leonie Holmes, a mentor for the Young Composer Awards finalists, will see the NZSO premiere her new work I watched a shadow in 2024.

The other composers from around Aotearoa New Zealand were Nicholas Graham Brownlie (of Sparrows and Navigation), Mallory Elmo (There are many spirits outside), Chongwen “Wayne” Gao (Cosmic Dance), Camryn Nel (Divertimento), Scarlett Peckham (Evocation: home, sky) and Thorin Williams (Below).

The NZSO again thanks the Todd Corporation for its generous support of this significant professional development programme for young composers.