August 2014

Dear customer,

This month started with some very exciting news for SOUNZ, as we heard from Creative New Zealand that we have been awarded funds from their Toi Tōtara Haemata (Arts Leadership) investment programme. You can read more about the news below.

New Zealand, and the world, commemorates the centenary of the First World War this year: events around the country marked the start of it 100 years ago.

In addition, New Zealand musicians are performing at events around the country and abroad, and SOUNZ has selected some for you to read about. Scroll down to the end of this edition of SOUNZ news to read about the latest additions to our collection, many of which are available to purchase from SOUNZ online.

Creative New Zealand’s latest round of investment funding was announced on 31 July. The funds from Toi Tōtara Haemata (Arts Leadership) investment programme are earmarked to assist the creation, presentation and distribution of New Zealand music through the provision of specific infrastructure services over the next three years.

SOUNZ is honoured and delighted to take up the challenge in this new leadership role providing infrastructure support for New Zealand music. Julie Sperring, Executive Director, says, "SOUNZ is extremely grateful to Creative New Zealand for this renewed and extended support. Establishing this new role is a bold step towards increasing the promotion of New Zealand music to wider and more diverse audiences."
Read more here.

Associate Professor of the School of Music, University of Auckland, John Elmsly has recently retired from his post. Elmsly, who is also know as the director of the Karlheinz Company, distinguished himself not only as a fine composer whose works have been performed all around the world, but also as a dedicated and inspirational teacher in a career spanning thirty years at the University of Auckland.

You can listen to a recent Radio NZ Upbeat interview with John Elmsly, looking back on his years at the School of Music.

Listen to the Karlheinz Company's performance of works by NZ composers, from the 2014 Composers Association of New Zealand (CANZ) Conference.

NZ musicians in Edinburgh
New Zealand composer Gareth Farr and pianist Michael Houstoun are among the more than 200 New Zealand artists taking part in the world’s most acclaimed arts festivals in Edinburgh this month.

NZTrio are not only busy at home, but they also fly around the globe taking New Zealand music to the world. After venturing into Cambodia and China to perform Jack Body’s cross-cultural project, O Cambodia, in May, the Trio will be performing at the Aarhus Festival and in Copenhagen in Denmark 29-31 August. Their performances will include works by Alex Taylor (burlesques mécaniques), Karlo Margetic (Lightbox) and Claire Cowan (Subtle Dances).

Also featured at the Aarhus Festival is a collaborative work featuring young New Zealand composer Gemma Peacocke, who is about to begin her composition studies at New York University’s Steinhardt School.

The Centenary of the First World War is being marked in musical terms throughout the year. To begin, SOUNZ revealed a film of a recent large-scale work by New Zealand composer Ross Harris and New Zealand poet Vincent O'Sullivan. The Resound project’s coverage of the premiere of Requiem for the Fallen at Wellington Cathedral of St Paul as part of the NZ Festival can be found here.

Notes from the Front, is a new song cycle by Ross Harris for tenor, piano, and violin, with words by Vincent O'Sullivan. This premiere is based on the experiences of Alexander Aitken, brilliant mathematician and soldier with the NZ Expeditionary Force, who managed to smuggle his violin not only through the Gallipoli campaign but also through Northern France. This event is part of the National Library Poet Laureate programme, on 28 August at Old St Pauls, Wellington.

New large-scale audiovisual work by Professor John Psathas will bring musicians from the countries in conflict during WWI to play music together. His creation will connect musicians from around the world, on multiple sites, to play an original piece as part of an “epic world symphony of musical commemoration” dedicated to those affected by the Great War.

Also marking the centenary of the WWI is the Gallipoli Songs competition, commemorating the Gallipoli landings. Australia’s ABC Classic FM and Radio New Zealand Concert invite Australian and New Zealand composers to submit original compositions of authentic Gallipoli texts set to music. The closing date for submissions is 20 October.

You can find information about events and activities around the country at WW100.

The National Finals of the New Zealand Community Trust (NZCT) Chamber Music Contest happened in Christchurch at the beginning of August. Congratulations to the SOUNZ/CANZ Award for the Best Performance of a New Zealand Work winners, the Appalachian Octet (Auckland), who performed Ryan Youens’ Kiwi in Appalachia (inspired by Copland). See all winners of CMNZ Contest here.

The New Zealand Choral Federation’s The Big Sing Finale will take place 21-23 August in Auckland, with 24 female, male and mixed secondary school choirs competing at the event. This year, the finale will play host to an interesting and diverse range of New Zealand music: 21 different composers are represented across the New Zealand Art Song and Maori Music categories, with a total of 27 different NZ choral works being performed. It's no surprise that choral composition in NZ continues to go from strength to strength with the enthusiasm and skill of these choirs and their directors.

This year’s SOUNZ-NZCF Composition Competition Award went to Luke Ross, from Onslow College, Wellington, for his composition Big Cheese. Congratulations to Luke!

After visiting Denmark at the end of this month, NZTrio’s Loft Series continues in Auckland and Art³ in Wellington.

Te Kōkī New Zealand School of Music and the History and German Programmes of Victoria University of Wellington present Recovering Hidden Voices: responding to the suppression of music in World War Two. The conference of performances and presentations takes place in Wellington on 22-24 August. The works of NZ composers Georg Tintner, Anton Killin, Richard Fuchs and Ross Harris will be featured in performances or scholarly papers during the conference.

Jade String Quartet concert series at the Pah Homestead in Auckland continues, featuring their usual variety of classical, romantic and modern NZ compositions. In the next concert on 24 August they present a new commission by John Elmsly.

Yvette Audain’s new album Grooves Unspoken will be released this month. The album features live tracks of Audain’s original music, displaying her diverse range of influences. The album release event is on 30 August at Cafe One Two One in Auckland.

Landscape Preludes, performed by Henry Wong Doe, was published last month. The album of works for solo piano by some of New Zealand's most renowned composers is available at SOUNZ online now. Charlotte Wilson’s article Landscape Preludes: Sound, piano, landscape can be read at SOUNZ online and NZ Herald review on Landscape Preludes here.

A new book by Swiss-New Zealand composer Kit Powell has been recently added to SOUNZ library. Quite by Chance documents in detail and in a very personal way his unique work. Composer, writer and publisher Rod Biss reviewed Quite by Chance for SOUNZ, read the full review here.

Composer Annea Lockwood is known for her explorations of natural acoustic sounds and environments. Her latest album, Ground of Being, presents four pieces ranging from 1996 to 2013. Also by Annea Lockwood, A Sound Map of the Danube, which is her largest river recording project to date: recorded over three years, it traces Europe's second longest river’s run. Listen to the Composer of the Week interview with Annea Lockwood by Elizabeth Kerr on Radio NZ Concert.

See highlights of other items recently added to our collection of CDs, digital downloads, books, scores and media on demand.

For updates about NZ composed music and events in between issues of SOUNZ news, follow us on Facebook.

And don’t miss the Resound Audio of the Week, a weekly offering of staff picks - often linked to upcoming events or anniversaries.
>RESOUND OF THE WEEK

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