NZSM Friday at 5: NZSM 4 Chch

Te Kōkī, the New Zealand School of Music present the first of our five Friday at 5 concerts for 2011.

"The Friday at 5 concert will consist entirely of music by Christchurch composers, both jazz and 'classical'," says NZSM Events Coordinator Stephen Gibbs, "and we are bringing four musicians up from the devastated city for the occasion. We hope that this concert of music by Cantabrians, for Cantabrians and involving Cantabrians, along with a generous koha from the audience, will go some way towards expressing our support and solidarity for our colleagues in Christchurch."

Performers include NZSM Head of Strings, Martin Riseley (violin), who was born and raised in Christchurch and Prof Donald Maurice (viola) who has long associations with the city. They will be joined by NZ String Quartet 's Helene Pohl (violin) and Rolf Gjelsten (cello) in a performance of John Ritchie's String Quartet. While John was born in Wellington, he has lived in the Garden City since 1946. John, who turns 90 this year, is the 'elder statesman' of NZ composition and music education and we are looking forward to hosting him here for this performance of his work. He is looking forward to some respite from aftershocks and chaos.

There are many close connections between jazz musicians in the Creative Capital and Garden City. NZSM jazz staff including Paul Dyne, Colin Hemmingsen and Nick Tipping will will be joined by Christchurch Jazz School staff Darren Pickering (piano) Ted Meager (drums performing jazz works by Christchurch musicians. Ted has not been able to play his drums for six weeks: his instrument and even drum sticks are all still locked in the red-stickered Christchurch Jazz School!

Also on the programme will be Chris Cree Brown's Inner Bellow for solo clarinet and electronic sounds. The work won the SOUNZ Contemporary Award last year and will be performed by well-known Christchurch clarinetist Gretchen Dunsmore.

The one-hour Friday at 5 concert series in the Ilott Theatre are usually free, but the koha collected on this occasion will be contributed to a fund being managed by Music Education Canterbury, supporting musicians badly affected by the earthquake and its aftermath. We hope that music lovers attending will not only give generously but also enjoy the 'Southern' music.

The Friday at 5 series are concerts in which the NZSM comes 'downtown' sharing with Wellington audiences music which reaches out and connects us to our past, future, other cultures and to each other. The concerts all feature the extraordinary talent of NZSM staff, students and friends.

The other Friday at 5 concerts in 2011 are on June 10, July 15, September 9, and October 7.

Event listed by New Zealand School of Music

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