Palmer, Juliet
Vermillion Songs for Piano Trio and Tenor (2016) – c. 10′
Guo, Ming
Spring at Westlake
Violinist takes final bow
It was a charged atmosphere as violinist Justine Cormack signed off after 15 years at NZTrio’s Swoop concert. Frank Bridge’s Phantasie in c minor is an elegiac rhapsody from that musical no man’s land between the 19th and 20th centuries. Its many moods were perfectly captured, with Bridge’s penultimate Andante a vision of Rachmaninov in an English country garden. Two recent […]
Media Release 2017: Stirring Changes ahead for NZTrio
Media Release STIRRING CHANGES AHEAD FOR NZTRIO NZTrio is seeking a new violinist following the decision by Justine Cormack to leave the trio from mid-2017. After fifteen years performing together with Ashley Brown (cellist) and Sarah Watkins (pianist) as founding members of NZTrio, Justine is to move on in a new direction. “Justine has made […]
Vicissitudes CD review
Vicissitudes is the new set of pieces by composer/performer Mike Nock. It is the recording of a work commissioned and then premiered at 2013’s Christchurch Arts Festival. That title is clever, its two meanings both valid here – first off the aim of the piece as a whole was to provide something of solace to Christchurch […]
Flare: Simon O’Neill (tenor) with NZTrio
Canterbury born, internationally renowned tenor Simon O’Neill combined with NZTrio to terrific effect in Christchurch on Thursday night. Who would think of combining a piano trio with a solo voice? Certainly, virtually no composer has done it, thus producing a kind of chicken-and-egg situation with regard to repertoire. Taking Robert Kahn’s Lieder Op.46 as their base, Simon […]
NZTrio delivers classy performance
Reviewing NZTrio’s Flare concert, it’s difficult to resist an easy pun, as this pairing of top-class ensemble with celebrated Kiwi heldentenor showed commendable flair. Simon O’Neill certainly earned his helden credentials, with almost two heroic hours of singing, encompassing a Bach cantata, songs by Mahler and Strauss, along with a new Juliet Palmer commission. First up […]
NZTrio Glow in meld of East and West
NZTrio’s Sunday concert achieved a meld of East and West that fully justified its title, Glow. Ear-teasing delicacies in Zhou Long’s Spirit of Chimes included the allure of string writing, in which pitches swayed like reeds in the breeze. Yet did Zhou’s more adventurous outbursts really coalesce with conservatively treated folk material? Gareth Farr’s Forbidden […]
Sway CD Excerpts
Kenji Bunch Swing Shift ii. Night Flight (exc.) Claire Cowan subtle dances – be slow and lie low (exc.) Raimundo Penaforte An Eroica Trio – Maurice (exc.) Judy Bailey So many rivers (exc.) Paul Schoenfield Café Music – Andante Moderato (exc.) MORE INFO and BUY NOW on the Rattle Label Website
Sway
Excerpt from Kenji Bunch Swing Shift ii Night Flight NZTrio’s Sway perfectly encapsulates their shared ambition to bring joyful, vibrant, life-affirming music to audiences in all corners of the world. The album comprises a rich and rewarding programme of beautifully performed and recorded music by five exceptional contemporary composers. Buy Now
