The world premiere of an acclaimed Kiwi composer’s final work, performances with an international star pianist and a violinist, and Puccini’s greatest hits, are just some of the highlights of the NZSO’s concerts in Wellington till Christmas.

NZSO Artistic Advisor and Principal Conductor Gemma New returns from the prestigious BBC Proms for Jupiter: Mozart & Copland on 19 September.

The concert features the world premiere of New Zealander Lyell Cresswell’s Third Piano Concerto, performed by renowned pianist Stephen de Pledge. Cresswell completed and sent the concerto to de Pledge in late 2021, only a few months before the composer passed away.

New wraps up her 2024 engagements with the NZSO in November with The Planets: Elgar & Holst, which includes a performance in Wellington on 22 November. As well as Holst’s famous The Planets, the concert features German violin virtuoso Christian Tetzlaff for Elgar’s beloved Violin Concerto.

Emerging Artists on 8 October showcases Aotearoa New Zealand’s brightest young musicians performing as soloists and side-by-side with NZSO players in an unmissable concert experience. The concert will also be livestreamed via the NZSO’s streaming portal NZSO+.

On 24 October the NZSO and a selection of the nation’s best vocalists celebrate some of the most iconic music ever written for opera in the concert Arias. With the NZSO led by Venezuelan-born, Spanish conductor José Luis Gomez, and singers including tenor Paul O’Neill and soprano Eliza Boom, this will be a hot-blooded evening of opera’s greatest hits, including arias and scenes from Puccini’s La Bohème, Madame Butterfly, Tosca, Gianni Schicchi and Turandot, Verdi’s Overture from La Forza del Destino, and more.

Ukranian-born Australian pianist Alexander Gavrylyuk joins the NZSO on 15 November to perform one of the world’s most loved works for piano and orchestra: Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. The Orchestra will be led by lauded Russian-born conductor Vasily Petrenko, Music Director of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra since 2021 after a famed 15-year engagement as Chief Conductor of Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.

The NZSO’s final concert for 2024 in Wellington is the Christmas favourite Handel’s Messiah.

British conductor Thomas Blunt leads the NZSO for his special interpretation, joined by soprano Madison Nonoa, tenor Filipe Manu, baritone Benson Wilson and The Tudor Consort on 14 December.

For more information on all concerts go to www.nzso.co.nz