Welcome to our May newsletter. We hope you've had a good Easter break involving lots of chocolate and rest :) Our students are currently in the middle of a well-earned mid-trimester break before they come back to a full month of events and activities in May. Our jazz students in particular are excited about the upcoming education residency with American trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, presented in partnership with the Wellington Jazz Festival - read more below. We're pleased to profile NZSM graduate Alexa Thomson this month, who has recently been appointed a 'Community-Embedded Musician' with Houston Symphony. Read more below about Alexa's journey, and take a look through the events we have on offer this month. NEWS AMBROSE AKINMUSIRE EDUCATION RESIDENCY AT NZSM ANNOUNCED The New Zealand School of Music—Te Kōkī, Victoria University of Wellington and the Wellington Jazz Festival are excited to announce an education partnership. Jazz students from the New Zealand School of Music will be working with American jazz trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire as part of a special residency while he is in town for the Wellington Jazz Festival in June. The musician will work with and rehearse the New Zealand School of Music Big Band, who will then perform as the opening act for his headline concert at the Michael Fowler Centre on 6 June. Ambrose Akinmusire will also take a workshop with small jazz ensembles from the School, and will share his experiences as a musician with a group of high school students and invited guests. Read more... KENNETH YOUNG COLLABORATES WITH WITI IHIMAERA NZSM's Kenneth Young has written the music for Man, Sitting in a Garden, a new collaborative work written by award-winning writer Witi Ihimaera. The work will be performed by the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra and Simon O'Neill on 15 May as part of the Auckland Writers Festival. Kenneth has written the 'impressionistic and poignant score inspired, in part, by the garden paintings of Karl Maughan' - sounds amazing!! EVENTS NZSM ORCHESTRA: DARKNESS AND LIGHT When: Tuesday 21 May 7:30pm The NZSM Orchestra invites you to experience the interplay of darkness and light. Returning to St Andrew's on the Terrace, the orchestra will perform a programme of contrasting aural moods. Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem, thought to be written as a reaction to the darkening political developments that led to the Second World War, will be performed alongside Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet and Mozart's Symphony No. 35 ‘Haffner’. Rod Biss' Four New Zealand Bird Songs, inspired by the plight of New Zealand's endangered Tara-iti (Fairy Tern), will be sung by soloist and NZSM’s Head of Classical Voice, Margaret Medlyn. DUO OMBRÉ AND THE NZSQ When: Friday 24 May, 6pm YOUNG MUSICIANS CONCERTS Join us to celebrate the achievements of our Young Musicians Programme students. 14 May, 7pm, Adam Concert Room: Composition students FRIDAY LUNCHTIME CONCERTS TŪHONO Friday 31 May, 12:10pm This lunchtime concert is curated by NZSM postgraduate student Luka Venter, who has formed 'Oro' ensemble to present an immersive programme weaving together works by Ravel, Salina Fisher, Jenny McLeod, Boulez and others. More info MUSIC FORUM Music Forum is a seminar series hosted by the NZSM Music Studies Programme. Staff, graduate students, and distinguished visiting speakers present recently completed research, or discuss work in progress. Music Forum is open to anyone to attend. RESPONSES TO THE HISTORICIZATION OF POPULAR MUSIC: THE DUNEDIN SOUND NOW Dr Oli Wilson - Massey University NO SYMPHONIES IN MISERY: EMOTION AND MUSIC IN ICELAND Dr Kimberly Cannady - Lecturer in Ethnomusicology at the New Zealand School of Music MESHUGGAH AND THE ANALYTICAL LIGHTSHOW: RHYTHMIC LIGHTING AND EXTREME METAL PERFORMANCE PRACTICE Dr Olivia Lucas - Lecturer in Music Studies at the New Zealand School of Music COMPOSER WORKSHOP Composer Workshop is a varied programme of guest presentations by established composers discussing their work, and workshop performances of student compositions. The following composer workshops in May are open to the public: STEPHANIE PAN AND STELIOS MANOUSAKIS (MODERN BODY FESTIVAL)Wednesday 1 May 3:10pm, Adam Concert Room More info HERMIONE JOHNSON Wednesday 8 May 3:10pm, Adam Concert Room PHD RECITAL - XI LIU PhD candidate Xi Liu presents two recitals this week, featuring music by Boris Pigovat, Glinka, Rachmaninoff and Bartok, accompanied by Madeleine Crump (harp) and Fiona McCabe (piano). Friday 26 April 12pm, Adam Concert Room ABOUT TOWN NZSM students are involved in a few events around town this month - check them out. CAPITAL BLUES CLUB: NZSM BIG BANDThursday 16 May, Jack Hackett's ORGAN FUNDRAISING CONCERT WITH THE NZSM STRING ORCHESTRA AND SOLOISTS INBAL MEGIDDO AND XI LIUSaturday 27 April 7:30pm, St Andrews on the Terrace More info NEWS SNIPPETS... Earlier this year Andrew Yorkstone and Toby Pringle went to Chengdu, China for two months as our first exchange with the Sichuan Orchestra of China, working and playing in the orchestra conducted by Darrell Ang. Check out some of their photos here. NZSM alumni Reuben Jelleyman, Lucien Johnson and Tabea Squire are among those selected for the latest SOUNZ NZ Composer Sessions. The composers’ works will be rehearsed and performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and recorded by RNZ Concert in July. GRADUATE Q&A: ALEXA THOMSON Alexa Thomson is a Community-Embedded Musician with Houston Symphony. What did you study at NZSM? I was at the NZSM from 2011-2014 for my Bachelor of Music with Honours, studying violin and viola with Martin Riseley, Doug Beilman and Gillian Ansell. You then went on to study overseas - where did you go? I went on to do a Performance Certificate with Timothy Deighton at Pennsylvania State University before auditioning for Master’s at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music. They are renowned for their orchestral programme, and also for having plenty of full scholarships for graduate tuition, so Kiwis who are wary of the high tuition costs in the USA should be encouraged to apply! Congratulations on landing your role with the Houston Symphony! How did that come about, and what does it entail? I graduated from Rice in May of 2018, and then auditioned for a full-time job with the Houston Symphony in October, as one of their Community Embedded Musicians (CEM). I started in December and since then have been learning many things in this hybrid position, which involves playing regular concerts with the symphony as well as doing lots of outreach and teaching work in the community. There are four CEM’s, all string players and all teaching artists, and we do interactive performances as a quartet and in duos as well as individually in many different venues such as hospitals, homeless shelters, schools, anywhere we can have an impact in the community. We hear you are a proponent of NZ music over there - can you tell us about that? New Zealand music actually played a big role in my journey to this success. While at Penn State and at Rice University I started doing outreach work using works for solo viola written by New Zealand composers, because I realised that without performers to champion them, these works would not be as frequently heard as more established pieces... and many of the New Zealand works are just as good! And what’s more, they often had fascinating stories behind them. I was very inspired by the work that Kiwi violists Timothy Deighton and Gillian Ansell have already done in promoting the music of New Zealand and figured, the more the merrier, so I tried my hand at giving outreach performances using these pieces. (My project is even titled “Viola Aotearoa: The Next Generation” in homage to Dr. Deighton’s original, “Viola Aotearoa”). I really feel that the motivation and experiences that were introduced into my musical life because of that project were vital to winning the job I have today. 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 |