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Clarissa Dunn

Host of Music Alive

Photo of Clarissa Dunn

Clarissa began life as a free-range kid on a Waikato dairy farm but she dreamed of roaming further and traveling the world.  After completing a conjoint Bachelor of Laws and Arts (languages) at Auckland University, she followed her passion and studied voice at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music in Australia. After completing the Developing Artist programme at Opera Queensland, Clarissa enjoyed years of musical adventures in Europe and the UK. These days, Clarissa is based in Wellington and sing with NZ Opera and The Sirens.

 At RNZ Concert she leads the presentation team, helping our talented presenters and producers make the most of their time on air and she also hosts Music Alive, bringing listeners the best live music experiences from Aotearoa and the world. She says she loves being in the buzz of a live music event and sharing that excitement with our listeners.

It's wonderful to be able to transport people to different places via the airwaves - true 'theatre of the mind'. I'm very proud of our live music recording teams of producers and engineers. They're truly world-class with so many New York Festivals Radio Awards to their name.”

Clarissa is an in-demand MC, presenting some of New Zealand’s premier music events including the Lexus Song Quest, the NZCT Chamber Music Contest, The Big Sing and special events from the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra and Christchurch Symphony Orchestra.

Clarissa has many favourite composers and says she needs a little from each of them for a balanced musical diet. When it comes to live music, she says Aotearoa’s own performers and composers constantly surprise, move and inspire her. Three top concert memories are Wagner’s Ring Cycle operas at The Royal Opera House with Jon Tomlinson as Wotan, watching Kristjan Järvi conduct the NZSO during the 2020 Aotearoa NZ Festival of the Arts – “an electrifying experience” and seeing Tanztheater Wuppertal (Pina Bausch's company) dance to Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring during another NZ Festival concert. Clarissa says the performance made her hear the music as she’d never heard it before - with all its menace and violence and power.

RNZ Programmes

  • 4lhz62t music alive internal cover png

    Music Alive

    Clarissa Dunn takes you to the best seat in the house for live concerts featuring local and international artists.

More Concert Presenters

Search results for Clarissa Dunn

  • Jane Austen: her day began with music

    music Waikato
    19 Nov 2024

    Dr Kirstine Moffat, Associate Professor in the English Programme at the University of Waikato, discusses her lifelong passion for Jane Austen's novels and explores the significant role music played in… Audio

    This audio is not downloadable due to copyright restrictions.

  • Soprano Sumi Jo: Part 2

    music
    10 Oct 2024

    South Korean soprano Sumi Jo was in New Zealand earlier this year to judge the semi-finals and final of the Lexus Song Quest. She spoke with RNZ Concert's Clarissa Dunn about her singing career. Audio

    This audio is not downloadable due to copyright restrictions.

  • Days left to vote for New Zealand's favourite classical music

    music culture
    9 Oct 2024

    Emile Donovan chats to RNZ Concert's Clarissa Dunn about some of her favourite picks by women composers. Audio

  • Soprano Sumi Jo on her life and music

    music
    9 Oct 2024

    South Korean soprano Sumi Jo was in New Zealand earlier this year to judge the semi-finals and final of the Lexus Song Quest. She spoke with RNZ Concert's Clarissa Dunn about her singing career. Video, Audio

    This audio is not downloadable due to copyright restrictions.

  • Live: NZSO - Jupiter: Copland, Cresswell & Mozart

    music
    19 Sep 2024

    Stephen De Pledge and the NZSO give the world premiere of NZ composer Lyell Cresswell’s final work. Flanking the piano concerto is Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring depicting a rural wedding, and…

  • NZCT Chamber Music Contest 2024

    music
    20 Aug 2024

    NZCT Chamber Music Contest 2024 Original Composition Winner Sea-am Thompson Audio

    This audio is not downloadable due to copyright restrictions.

  • 2024 Lexus Song Quest, Sumi Jo Interview

    music
    3 Aug 2024

    Lexus Song Quest International Head Judge Sumi Jo talks to Clarissa Dunn about her career and singing. Audio

  • 2024 Lexus Song Quest Grand Final, Arias

    music
    3 Aug 2024

    Austin Haynes (counter-tenor), Tayla Alexander (soprano), Katie Trigg (mezzo), Manase Latu (tenor), Morgan-Andrew King (bass) perform arias with NZSO conducted by Hamish McKeich Audio

    This audio is not downloadable due to copyright restrictions.

  • 2024 Lexus Song Quest Grand Final

    music arts
    3 Aug 2024

    Five finalists sing one song with piano accompaniment and two arias accompanied by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. The winner and runner-up are announced live on stage by the International Head… Audio

  • 2024 Lexus Song Quest Grand Final, Song

    music
    3 Aug 2024

    Austin Haynes (counter-tenor), Tayla Alexander (soprano), Katie Trigg (mezzo), Manase Latu (tenor), Morgan-Andrew King (bass) each perform a song, accompanied by pianist Terence Dennis Audio

    This audio is not downloadable due to copyright restrictions.

  • NZ's best young opera singers to compete in Song Quest final

    arts
    2 Aug 2024

    Five of the country's best young opera singers will be competing in the Lexus Song Quest "Grand Final Gala" on Saturday night in Wellington. RNZ Concert presenter Clarissa Dunn will be hosting the… Audio

    This audio is not downloadable due to copyright restrictions.

  • The BBC Proms 2024 on RNZ Concert

    music
    1 Aug 2024

    The BBC Proms offers diverse and exciting musical journeys across eight weeks of live performances from a vast array of leading orchestras, conductors and soloists from the UK and around the world…