12 DAYS TO SECURE YOUR TICKETS!

In precisely two weeks, venues across Cuba Street (and slightly beyond) will be flooded with the sounds of horns, strings, voices, clinking glasses and applause: it's Classical on Cuba 2023!

Tickets are selling like powdered wigs in 16th century Vienna (that's pretty fast) so we recommend you get all the music lovers in your life together ASAP to check out the programme and book your shows.

Alright, so you're ready to book in for some shows, but hang on, do you need some help deciding how to structure your classical crawl?

Luckily, our programmer Elliot Vaughan has made some suggested crawls that cater to different tastes, and are all scheduled with no clashes. All you have to do is lock those tickets in now.

TICKETS SELLING FAST with LIMITED SEATS in some venues, so book now to secure your ideal Classical Crawl!

FOR THE WHĀNAU

Capital Reeds - 2 SEP, 12PM, Thistle Hall

Beat It Blast It - 2 SEP, 1.15PM, Te Auaha Ātea

Duo Enharmonics - 2 SEP, 2.15PM, Göethe-Institut

Trumpet Quartet - 3 SEP, 12PM, Southern Cross Garden Bar Restaurant

Jake & Anita - 3 SEP, 2.15PM, Te Auaha Ātea

SONIC EXPLORERS

Navaa: Sounds of the Middle East - 2 SEPT, 12PM, Southern Cross Garden Bar Restaurant

Koolish Zein - 2 SEP, 12.45PM, City Gallery Adam Auditorium

Duo Tapas - 2 SEPT, 1.45PM, Hanging Ditch

Briar Prastiti x Moth Quartet - 2 SEP, 2.45PM, Thistle Hall

2023 New Cuba St Suite - 2 SEP, 4.30pm, City Gallery Adam Auditorium

Silva Trio - 2 SEP, 5.30pm, Rogue and Vagabond

Sounds of Te Kōkī - 3 SEP, 2PM, Bedlam & Squalor

Gabriela Glapska - 3 SEP, 4pm - Göethe-Institut

Add on an evening feature show (or two):

Oro Rua Rangi ki te Whenua (Jerome Kavanagh Poutama and Michael Norris) - 2 SEP, 8.30PM, Nood

Gallery Orchestra x Other Futures Big Band - 3 SEP, 8PM, St Peter's on Willis

REVOLUTIONS

Workers Union - 3 SEP, 12PM OR 1PM, Thistle Hall

Coming Together - 3 SEP, 2.45 OR 3.45PM, Thistle Hall

The Holy Presence of Joan d'Arc - 3 SEP, 5.15PM, City Gallery Adam Auditorium

AO MĀORI

Rob Thorne Ensemble: Ko Tēnei te Timatanga o te Ao - 3 SEP, 2.45pm, City Gallery Adam Auditorium

HIWA: Oro - 3 SEP, 3.45pm, St Peter's on Willis

Bisnaga Vortex - 3 SEP, 4.45pm, Southern Cross Garden Bar Restaurant

Add on an evening feature show:

Oro Rua Rangi ki te Whenua (Jerome Kavanagh Poutama and Michael Norris) - 2 SEP, 8.30PM, Nood

DAZZLING VIRTUOSITY

Koolish Zein - 2 SEP, 12.45pm, City Gallery

Martin Riseley - 2 SEP, 1.45PM, Rogue and Vagabond

Somi Kim - 2 SEP, 3.30PM, Göethe-Institut

Add on an evening feature show:

NZ Trio - 2 SEP, 6PM OR 7.45PM, Göethe-Institut

VOCALISED

Number 8 Choir - 2 SEP, 1:30PM, JJ Murphy's

Furioso 1: La Liberazione di Ruggiero dall’isola d’Alcina, The Queen's Closet - 2 SEP, 3.30PM, Te Auaha Ātea

Furioso 2: Roland, The Queen's Closet - 2 SEP, 4.45PM, Te Auaha Ātea

Furioso 3: Orlando Furioso, The Queen's Closet - 2 SEP, 7.00PM, Te Auaha Ātea

Baroque Voices - 3 SEP, 1.15PM, St Peter's on Willis

Coming Together - 3 SEP 2.45PM, Thistle Hall

Jake & Anita - 3 SEP, 3.15PM, Hanging Ditch

HIWA: Oro - 3 SEP, 3.45PM, St Peter's on Willis

The Holy Presence of Joan d'Arc - 3 SEP, 5.15PM, City Gallery Adam Auditorium

Add on an evening feature show:

Gallery Orchestra x Other Futures Big Band - 3 SEP, 8PM, St Peter's on Willis

POWDERED WIGS GIGS

Furioso 1: La Liberazione di Ruggiero dall’isola d’Alcina, The Queen's Closet - 3 SEP, 12.30PM, Te Auaha Ātea

Baroque Voices - 3 SEPT 1:15PM, St Peter's on Willis

Furioso 2: Roland, The Queen's Closet - 3 SEP, 2PM, Te Auaha Ātea

Furioso 3: Orlando Furioso, The Queen's Closet - 3 SEP, 3.15pm, Te Auaha Ātea

Add on an evening feature show: 

The Whistledowns - 3 SEP, 6.30pm, City Gallery Adam Auditorium

MATRIARCHY

Somi Kim - 2 SEP, 3.30PM, Goëthe-Institut

Briar Prastiti x Moth Quartet - 2 SEP 5.15PM, Thistle Hall

Flute Squadron - 3 SEP, 1.45PM, Rogue and Vagabond

HIWA: Oro - 3 SEP, 3.45PM, St Peter's on Willis

Gabriela Glapska - 3 SEP, 5.15PM, Goëthe-Institut

Add on an evening feature show:

NZ Trio - 2 SEP - 6.00PM, Goëthe-Institut

FESTIVAL BLOCKBUSTER FINALE 

We're closing off the festival in style with the sensational jazz-orchestral fusion of the 55-piece Gallery Orchestra x Other Futures Big Band (featuring gorgeous vocalists Zoe Moon and Wallace Gollan). Fresh off a set of sell-out Fringe showings, this performance promises the glitz, glamour and virtuosic talent fitting to round out this weekend of musical brilliance. Whatever you do, we implore you not to miss this! 

Above: Gallery Orchestra x Other Futures Big Band

Finally, we wanted to do a huge shoutout to the festival's artistic partner, Orchestra Wellington. They've made our programme possible by lending their spectacular performers to: The Whistledowns, The Beatitudes, Cellophonia, Beat It, Blast It, Workers Union , The Holy Presence of Joan D'Arc, Tumeke, Coming Together, Bisnaga Vortex, and Trumpet Quartet! 

They're dedicated to nurturing the local scene and we are truly lucky to work with them. Plus, you'll be happy to know that they also find time to do their own performances as well!  

You can catch their next show Pharaoh on Saturday 7 October at 7:30pm at the Michael Fowler Centre. It features four epic works, including a commissioned piece by Briari Prastiti (who features in this year's festival) called White, Red, Black.

Their final show of the year is a New Zealand premiere of arguably the most serious and significant opera of the twentieth century - Alban Berg’s Wozzeck. The performance, titled Red Moon, is showing on Saturday 11 November at 7.30pm at the Michael Fowler Centre. Orchestra Wellington shows are always beautifully curated and moving, you won't want to miss them.

Classical on Cuba is brought to you by the team at Creative Capital Arts Trust, along with the generous support of our fantastic partners