Kia ora koutou, 

We have three excellent events coming up this month which we encourage you to come along to, ahead of our slightly quieter summer months. Annual events China Crossing and Kristallnacht are back, and we are celebrating the School's new Hi-Fi sound system with an event this Friday. 

Just a reminder that you can follow us on Instagram as well as Facebook - head there to see student and staff profiles, news and happenings at NZSM.  

Events

Te Kōkī Sound System: an evening of live electronic music

When: Friday 6 November, 7pm
Where: SU310, Student Union Building
Free entry. Numbers are limited, RSVPs essential here.

Join us for an evening of sonic art from the New Zealand School of Music—Te Kōkī. Short performances of original live electronic music will be accompanied by drinks/nibbles to celebrate the School's new Hi-Fi sound system developed by Dr. Thomas Voyce. Bar opens 7pm, performances begin 7:30pm.

Kristallnacht Commemorative Concert

When: Monday 9 November, 7pm
Where: Public Trust Building, Lambton Quay
Get tickets

Presented by the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand in partnership with the New Zealand School of Music—Te Kōkī, this will be a unique performance of classical and jazz music by leading Jewish European composers, Weinberg, Korngold, Toch, Rózsa, Waxman and Castelnuovo-Tedesco, all of whom escaped the Holocaust.

Performers include NZSM staff Inbal Megiddo, Jian Liu, Jenny Wollerman, Martin Riseley, the New Zealand String Quartet, David Barnard and Dave Wilson, artist teacher Callum Allardice and alumni Phoebe Johnson and Hikurangi Schaverien-Kaa. 

China Crossing IV

When: Thursday 26 November, concert 7pm followed by reception at 8pm
Where: Adam Concert Room
Free entry but registrations essential here  

New Zealand School of Music—Te Kōkī and the Confucius Institute at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington are excited to present China Crossing IV. This concert will debut new music by Chinese New Zealand composer Gao Ping and arrangements by SOUNZ award winning composer Michael Norris. The full programme features performances by Lan Weiwei (pipa), Jian Liu (piano), Martin Riseley (violin), Te Kōkī Trio and the New Zealand String Quartet.

From the NZSM collection

Played for entertainment and occasionally to accompany song and dance in the Pacific, in Tonga fangufangu can be sounded to awaken royalty. Playing with the nose offers a distinct sound for these instruments and represents a cultural distinction between breath from the nose and from the mouth. Players and makers are actively reviving nose flutes in Aotearoa and the Pacific.

Watch here for a Tagata Pasifika story about the Tongan nose flute in Aotearoa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QPRQBmvD08

- Brian Diettrich, New Zealand School of Music—Te Kōkī

News

Support following media allegations 

Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington is aware that there have been distressing reports in the media about sexually harmful behaviours by a former staff member at the New Zealand School of Music—Te Kōkī, as well as media reports about sexually harmful behaviours in the wider Wellington music community. We know how upsetting these reports have been for our students, staff and community and are truly sorry for the harm this news has caused. We want to assure you that the University is taking these allegations very seriously and is exploring the most appropriate pathways to address these concerns and support our community.
More information on support and reporting pathways available can be found here. 

Ngā mihi,
Prof. Jennifer Windsor, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Humanities, Social Sciences, and Education
Prof. Sally Jane Norman, Director, New Zealand School of Music—Te Kōkī

Awards for Michael Norris and David Long at the APRA Silver Scrolls

A huge congratulations to NZSM Associate Professor Michael Norris and Teaching Fellow David Long, who both won awards at the 2020 APRA Silver Scrolls Awards last week. 

Michael Norris won the SOUNZ Contemporary Award – Te Tohu Auaha for the fourth time for his latest composition, Mātauranga (Rerenga). He previously won in 2014 for Inner Phases, 2018 for Sygyt, and 2019 for Sama Violin Concerto. 

David Long (also a former finalist and winner), took home Best Original Music in a Series for his work on The Luminaries (published by Native Tongue Music Publishing), based on Eleanor Catton’s acclaimed historical novel. 

Toi Pōneke Sound Artist Residency announced

NZSM alumnus Marcus Jackson has been selected as this year’s Toi Pōneke sound artist in residence. Marcus Jackson (BMus Hons, 2017, VUW; MMus, 2019, VUW) is an artist and composer based in Te-Whanganui-a-Tara, Aotearoa. He is interested in navigating the links between physical gesture and sound production, looking in particular at how gesture illuminates the culture from which it emerges. He works in a variety of forms including performance, composition, installation, and text.

Marcus will be in residence from 15 October 2020 until 15 January 2021, and will present an exhibition at Toi Pōneke at the end of the residency. More

NZSM Student wins New Zealand Junior Piano Competition

Year 13 piano student Otis Prescott-Mason has won first prize in the 2020 New Zealand Junior Piano Competition. The competition, organised by the Lewis Eady Charitable Trust, is open to pre-tertiary pianists, with past winners including Delvan Lin and Tony Yan Tong Chen. While Otis is still at secondary school, he is also enrolled in a Certificate of Proficiency at Victoria University of Wellington, taking four New Zealand School of Music courses in 2020 with Dr Jian Liu and Emma Sayers. More

Ceòl Mòr

On Saturday 21 November you might hear something a bit different coming from the Adam Concert Room. 'Ceòl Mòr' is the most ancient form of Scottish bagpipe music, with the oldest compositions dating back to the 14th Century. In this concert, presented by the Piobaireachd Society of NZ, audiences will hear leading bagpipe performers of this music in New Zealand. In addition to the pipers, there will be guest performers from staff and students of the NZSM (including David Barnard and Monique Lapins) who will demonstrate how Ceòl Mòr has been adapted for other instruments. 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: