Welcome to the November edition of the Dawn Chorus newsletter.
October was a full month of events, which included an insight into the life in the music therapy profession, our final orchestra concert for the year, and jazz groups playing at the Bristol. As part of our Music From Her festival, ten composers and songwriters presented re-compositions of suffrage songs from the 1890s at the Hannah Playhouse. Lee Stuart, Ariana Tikao and Ruby Solly are pictured above performing at the concert—you can check out more photos here. Stay tuned for videos of the performances from SOUNZ too.
November to February is a quiet time on the events front at NZSM, but you'll see plenty of other news and happenings below. For now, we wish all our students the best for their upcoming recitals and exams, and hope you all have a happy November.
NEWS
SIMON EASTWOOD'S 'COMPOSING IN THE
WILDERNESS' ADVENTURE
DMA composition student Simon Eastwood travelled to Alaska earlier this year to be part of 'Composing in the Wilderness', a trip that involved canoeing, continuous daylight, and communicating with wolves on the Koyukuk River.
Read about his experience and his other upcoming projects (including a collaboration with painter Oleksiy Koval) here.
NEW DIRECTIONS FOR JOHN PSATHAS
After 25 years of committed and creative service, composer Professor John Psathas is retiring from his position with the New Zealand School of Music - Te Kōkī to pursue compelling new artistic horizons. John will focus on number of big projects that he'll be working on over the next 4 or 5 years, and plans to move into the world of performance. He finishes his position at NZSM at the end of 2018, but will continue with some postgraduate supervision.
We're very excited for him, but the School will miss him greatly—John’s warmth, integrity, supportive nature and utter love of music are just some of the reasons he has been such an inspiring presence here, not to mention his extraordinary compositions.
We asked John a few questions about what lies ahead, and Michael Norris sums up John's enormous contribution to the School—read more
To stay up to date with John’s projects and performances, visit www.johnpsathas.com
DENIS ADAM LEAVES BEHIND A RICH CULTURAL LEGACY
Philanthropist and passionate arts advocate Denis Adam, the man who gave us the Adam Concert Room, has died at the age of 94. Together with his wife Verna, their generosity has transformed the cultural landscape of New Zealand.
Most recently, the Adam Foundation confirmed a significant gift towards the national music centre.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Grant Guilford says Denis and Verna Adam have made an immense contribution to Victoria University of Wellington.
“Their generous philanthropy, vision and commitment to scholarships and arts initiatives both enables young New Zealanders to pursue their talents in the arts and ensures the University can provide our students with exceptional programmes in Creative Writing, Music and the visual arts.
“Their support of the outstanding Adam Concert Room and Adam Art Gallery has given thousands of people the opportunity to access world-renowned arts and music. The Adam Foundation’s gift to the national music centre will be a wonderful legacy to continue Denis’s vision and inspire others to lead through philanthropy.”
There will be a memorial for Denis Adam in the Adam Concert Room at a later date.
MICHAEL NORRIS WINS SOUNZ CONTEMPORARY AWARD
On 4 October NZSM Composition Programme Director Michael Norris won the 2018 SOUNZ Contemporary Award with Sygyt, for throatsinger, ensemble and live electronics—a work crossing both musical and cultural boundaries.
This was Michael's fifth nomination for the award, which he won in 2014 with Inner Phases. Sygyt was written for Wellington based throatsinger Jonny Marks, singer of the experimental band The All Seeing Hand.
MĀORI MUSIC PERFORMANCE AT NZSM
Students in PERF151 Māori Music Performance this trimester learned to craft and play a variety of instruments, and worked to develop their sounds into new original creations, including in ensembles. Led by composer and performer Rob Thorne (Ngāti Tumutumu), the class focused on the exploration of taonga puoro, and presented their final performance projects on Monday 15 October. The class will run again in first trimester 2019 and is open to all university students —more information can be found here.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM AOTEAROA AUDIO ARTS
Presented by the New Zealand School of Music - Te Kōkī, Aotearoa Audio Arts 2018 was a two-day festival in Wellington bringing together New Zealand and international sound artists and electronic musicians. This highlights video features performances held at City Gallery's Adam Auditorium on 28 & 29 September.
ANTONIA BARNETT-MCINTOSH
In this Listener profile by Elizabeth Kerr, our Composer-in-Residence Antonia Barnett-McIntosh does some baking and talks chance procedures, the gender imbalance in NZSO's 2019 programme, and throwing the doors open to the Lilburn residence.
GEMMA NEW
Dallas Symphony has named 31-year-old past NZSM student Gemma New as its first female principal guest conductor. She will conduct two weeks of concerts in the 2019-20 season and three weeks in 2020-21.
It was also announced recently that Gemma will conduct the New York Philharmonic‘s upcoming season-opening Young People’s Concert on November 17th at New York’s Lincoln Center.
GABRIELA GLAPSKA
Gabriela Glapska, a pianist from Poland who is currently studying towards a PhD at the New Zealand School of Music, has won a Wellington International Student Excellence Award.
These awards recognise the achievements and contributions of international students in the Wellington region. Gabriela was one of twelve recipients of the awards.
MARCUS JACKSON
Marcus Jackson was awarded 1st equal at the Asian Composers League Young Composers Competition, held in Taiwan from 19-23 October. Marcus's winning piece 'like speaking into each others' mouths' for clarinet and cello was presented among a programme of works by young composers from Australia, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Turkey.
CORRINA CONNOR
NZSM PhD student Corrina Connor has been selected as the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences nominee for the PGSA - Postgraduate Students’ Association of VUW Landers Award for 2018.
You can vote for Corrina and read about why she was nominated here:
https://tinyurl.com/ybo76hwq
EVENTS ABOUT TOWN
GRAND PIANO TRUST CONCERT
When: Sunday 4 November, 1pm
Where: Gillies Group Theatre, Expressions
The Upper Hutt Concert Grand Piano Trust presents Grand Upper Hutt, a recital by Nicholas Kovacev, recipient of the Upper Hutt Grand Piano Trust Award 2018.
Nicholas Kovacev is a Serbian-New Zealand pianist from Wellington, currently finishing his third year of studies at the New Zealand School of Music under Dr Jian Liu. More info
KRISTALLNACHT
When: Thursday 8 November, 7pm
Where: Renouf Foyer, Michael Fowler Centre
This concert is in remembrance of the mass arrest and murder by the Nazis in 1938 of Germany’s Jewish population, including the widespread destruction of Jewish businesses and synagogues.
The highlight of the concert will be the NZ premiere of “Violins of Hope”, a composition by Israeli conductor and pianist, Ohad ben Ari, to be performed by Israeli violin virtuoso, Tal First, and Inbal Megiddo of the New Zealand School of Music. More info
Support the musicians, composers and scholars of the future
For some of New Zealand's most talented musicians, the only thing that stands in the way of their dreams is the lack of funds to make them real. For further information on how you can provide support for students at the New Zealand School of Music, please contact either:
Rosalene Fogel
Development Manager
Victoria University of Wellington Foundation
Ph: 0800 VIC LEGACY (0800 842 534)
Email: rosalene.fogel@vuw.ac.nz
www.victoria.ac.nz/foundation
