Unique collaborative concert with NZSO and international stars   

Don’t miss a unique concert experience in March when the NZSO joins with Aotearoa New Zealand’s Muslim communities and acclaimed international artists to present Beyond Words in Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland.  

Beyond Words is a special collaboration to promote unity and peace through music and to honour the lives lost and changed forever in Ōtautahi Christchurch on 15 March 2019. 

The Wellington performance is presented in association with the Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts and the Auckland performance is presented in association with Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki Auckland Arts Festival. 

Conducted by Fawzi Haimor, featuring powerful Moroccan vocalist OUM and oud virtuoso Kyriakos Tapakis, the NZSO performs the New Zealand premieres of remarkable works from American Valerie Coleman, Iranian Reza Vali, Estonian Arvo Pärt, traditional songs and the world premiere of a new work from renowned Aotearoa New Zealand composer John Psathas. 

Psathas’ Ahlan wa Sahlan, composed in collaboration with OUM and Tapakis, uses the Arabic welcome to let people know they are in a place where they belong. Finding inspiration in a quote promoting peace, love and forgiveness from terror attack survivor Farid Ahmed’s memoir Husna's Story, Psathas, OUM and Tapakis have fused together musical styles from Eastern and Western cultures in Ahlan wa Sahlan.  

This work has been created with guidance from The Central Iqra Trust and communities across Aotearoa New Zealand. 

Vali combines Western orchestration with Persian style for the New Zealand premiere of Funèbre. Coleman’s Umoja, Swahili for ‘unity’, was the first work by a living African American woman premiered by the Philadelphia Orchestra. Pärt’s Silouan’s Song is a powerfully spiritual and meditative work. 

Vocalist Abdelilah Rharrabti, vocalist and daf musician Esmail Fathi, and saz player Liam Oliver from Ōtautahi Christchurch’s Simurgh Music School also join the Orchestra to perform traditional music of the Middle East.  

Alongside the concerts are a series of free community engagement events in Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland in collaboration with Muslim communities and Unity Week, the official commemoration to be held from 15 March. All the details are listed in our links below. 

In Auckland Town Hall a special calligraphy exhibition features works created by distinguished calligraphy artist Janna Ezat. In the Islamic world, Arabic calligraphy is both an art form and an expression of devotion, identity, and cultural heritage. The exhibition includes a powerful piece dedicated to Janna’s son Hussein Al-Umari, commemorating his bravery, and honouring his legacy in the aftermath of the tragic attack. 

Janna has also generously created a calligraphy work, pictured above specifically for Beyond Words. 

An unforgettable evening of Mahler and more with Gemma New

Our Mahler 5 concerts in Wellington and Auckland in April feature an extraordinary programme with the Orchestra led by NZSO Artistic Advisor and Principal Conductor Gemma New. 

Gustav Mahler’s Fifth Symphony is one of the greatest symphonies ever written and his most famous work. Ninety-nine musicians are required on stage to bring Mahler’s masterpiece to life, making it an exceptional experience for audiences. 

Acclaimed New Zealand composer Salina Fisher’s Kintsugi is enthralling music, inspired by the Japanese tradition of mending broken pottery with golden seams of lacquer. 

Emmy Award-winning and Grammy-nominated composer Adam Schoenberg’s Losing Earth is performed for the first time in New Zealand, with internationally renowned percussionist Jacob Nissly from the San Francisco Symphony as soloist.  

Twice named among the top 10 most performed living composers by American orchestras, Schoenberg wrote and dedicated Losing Earth to Nissly. He will also be in New Zealand for both concerts. 

Hailed by the San Francisco Chronicle as “a thrilling thing to behold… a bravura theatrical spectacle” when it premiered in 2019, Losing Earth was inspired by both the climate catastrophe threatening our natural world and the ancient use of percussion in storytelling. 

NZSO Members can buy tickets now. Public tickets go on sale 10am 09 February. 

NZSO office hours Monday 5 February

The NZSO office in Wellington is closed to the public on Monday 5 February – but you can still book tickets by phone or email. We resume normal office hours for ticket bookings on Wednesday 7 February, 10am to 4pm. 

Enjoy the NZSO with singing sensation and comedienne Meow Meow this month!

Our special performance with Australian singing and comedienne Meow Meow is just three weeks away! 

Meow Meow’s Pandemonium presented by Chris and Kathy Parkin kicks off the first weekend of the Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts in Wellington with a one night only show on 24 February. 

Meow has hypnotised, inspired and astounded audiences globally with her solo shows and collaborations from the dive bars of Berlin to the Royal Albert Hall and Sydney Opera House. 

“It’s wild and there is chaos within it. That’s exciting for an orchestra, they’re really actively involved in the whole show,” Meow has said. 

The night ranges from Piazzolla tangos to Weill, Brecht, Brel – even Radiohead – politics, enchantment and hilarity alongside original chansons by Meow and frequent collaborator Pink Martini’s Thomas M Lauderdale. 

The Orchestra will be led by our acclaimed Principal Conductor-in-Residence Hamish McKeich. 

NZSO appoints leading musical entertainer and educator as its first Animateur

The NZSO is excited to announce the appointment of the multi-talented Chris Lam Sam as our very first Animateur! 

For New Zealanders, this will be their introduction to an orchestral animateur, a role which includes engaging audiences with new or unfamiliar music, while helping them make deeper and more personally relevant connections with the music and the musicians. 

Chris is one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s leading musical entertainers and educators, having performed both independent and commissioned shows in more than 1,000 education centres across the motū. 

Among his many guises, he was co-founder of Aotearoa New Zealand’s first professional touring musical supergroup for children, The Funky Monkeys, in 2003. 

Raised in Te Whanganui-a-tara Wellington, Chris completed a Bachelor of Music (Composition) at Waikato University. Just before obtaining a Graduate Diploma in Teaching (Primary) his Funky Monkey journey began. 

In 2017, he flew to the UK to release his first children’s picture book with London’s Tate Museum. His book, Inspector Brunswick: Case of the Missing Eyebrow won the Storylines Notable Book Award alongside Dame Lynley Dodd, and Dame Joy Cowley ONZ the following year. 

Three years later, Chris released his first independent symphonic-music-inspired album of children’s songs that went on to become a finalist for the ‘Best Children’s Music Arti’ Tūi award. In 2022 he won NZ On Air’s ‘Best Children’s Music Video’ award for his Song About Nothing. 

As a firm believer in the positive well-being outcomes that improved access to the arts can provide disadvantaged children, Chris co-founded and chaired two music-based charitable trusts that continue to fund free musical performances, lessons, and instruments for young families nationwide. 

Join us as Chris connects communities from Cape Reinga to Bluff with the NZSO and opens new doors to the world of symphonic music through the NZSO experience. 

NZSO cellists help young cello players with new instruments

Young musicians from Arohanui Strings can now perform on two quarter-size cellos and one half-size cello thanks to the determination and hard work of New Zealand Symphony Orchestra’s Cello Section and their Orchestra colleagues. 

The three cellos were gifted by the Cello Section to Arohanui Strings, which runs music education programmes for six to 18-year-olds in the Wellington region, primarily in Taita, Stokes Valley, Wainuiomata, Mt Cook, Miramar and Newtown. 

NZSO Section Principal Emeritus Cello David Chickering donated one of the quarter-sized instruments, while NZSO Cellist Annemarie Meijers donated the half-size cello. 

For the third cello, the NZSO cellists decided to do some fundraising the old-fashioned way – with a bake sale. The Orchestra’s players and Support Staff snapped up the delicious baked goodies, allowing the Cello Section as able to raise more than $600 towards the instrument. 

“NZSO Associate Concertmaster Donald Armstrong approached the Cello Section one day after a rehearsal and asked if we'd be interested in raising some money for a small cello for the Arohanui Strings programme,” says David Chickering. 

“We decided that a bake sale would be just the ticket, and with any luck, we'd be able to reach our target in one day.  We were overjoyed to be able to do it and Arohanui Strings were very pleased to get that cello.” 

Arohanui Strings Programme Director Margaret Guldborg says they were so amazed by the generosity and support given to them by the NZSO cellists. 

“David Chickering has always been a champion of ours, and with his and the rest of the section's help, we can finally start a cello revolution!” 

Arohanui Strings continues to fundraise to purchase other instruments for its new players. If you would like to donate, go to the link below. 

Join us at the NZSO Foundation Gala Dinner in March

Curated in collaboration with our fabulous partner, Logan Brown Restaurant, the NZSO Foundation’s first Gala Dinner event since 2018 is held at the Grand Hall at Parliament on 21 March.  

As well as an exciting social event for our donors and supporters, a limited number of tickets are available for the public and NZSO Members to purchase. Get in quickly to reserve your places! 

This lively black-tie gala dinner event is an opportunity for 120 guests to experience the NZSO intimately and celebrate our wonderful benefactors.  The venue is generously sponsored by The Honourable Paul Goldsmith, the new Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage – who will also give a keynote speech and treat guests to a performance on the piano. Our MC will be the NZSO’s own imitable David Bremner (Principal Trombone). Music, fine food and wine will feature throughout the evening. 

Through this elegant and memorable event, we wish to recognise and shine a light on the nurturing community and family of donors and supporters around the NZSO. Alongside this dinner, Webb’s will host an online auction and all proceeds raised will support the purchase of integral new instruments which the NZSO is seeking to acquire in 2024.