Wellington.Scoop » NZSO 75th Anniversary Gala to feature audience picks
Press release – NZSO
The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra’s 75th Anniversary Gala Concert will feature four uplifting pieces chosen by the public.
Jubilee September 9 in Wellington includes performances by Shostakovich Festive opening by Mozart Flute Concerto No. 2Sibelius’ Violin Concerto and Tchaikovsky Sleeping Beauty Suite.
All four works were voted the most popular by gala concert ticket holders from a selection of 20 orchestral works by composers ranging from Dvořák to Vaughan Williams.
NZSO Concertmaster and Principal Violinist Vesa-Matti Leppänen will be the soloist of the second movement of Sibelius’ revered Violin Concerto. For performances of two movements of Mozart’s monumental Flute Concerto, principal flute of the NZSO section Bridget Douglas is the soloist.
The concert, led by NZSO’s Artistic Advisor and Principal Conductor Gemstone Newincludes performances of two uplifting classic masterpieces: Ravel Bolero and Rimsky-Korsakov Caprice Spanish.
Acclaimed works by two contemporary New Zealand composers are also performed: A bugle will do by Anthony Ritchie and Rain by Salina Fisher.
Ritchie’s play takes its title and inspiration from New Zealand war hero Sir Charles Upham, who, when asked if he wanted a state funeral, replied, “a bugle will do.” Commissioned by the NZSO to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, it was first performed in 1996.
Fisher’s critically acclaimed and award-winning work, written while Composer-in-Residence of the NZSO National Youth Orchestra, was inspired by “the beauty and chaos of Wellington’s rain”.
Jubilee, presented in association with Summerset Retirement Villages, will be filmed and aired later in 2022.
As part of the NZSO’s 75th anniversary celebrations, the Orchestra will also be hosting a series of free events throughout the day at the Michael Fowler Center in Wellington.
NZSO Open House Features Tamariki timetwo whānau-friendly concerts by players from the NZSO National Youth Orchestra at 10.30am and 1pm, which include story timewhere a New Zealand children’s favorite story is read to original music by composer Claire Cowan.
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