With the year's end in sight, it's a good time to update you on what's been happening, and to look forward to what 2023 will offer RNZ Concert listeners.
Plans for the rest of 2022
Our newly appointed presenters – Bryan Crump, Siliga Sani Muliaumaseali’i and Carey McDonald have appreciated the warm welcome they have received from listeners as they settle in to their new roles. We are all looking forward to hearing what they will add to the RNZ Concert experience in the future.
RNZ Concert will broadcast our summer schedule from 19 December 2022 – 22 January 2023. This programming is designed to deliver good radio and give our people a well earned break from work.
Refreshed programmes designed by the presenters, programmers and (for the first time) dedicated producers for our breakfast and afternoon shows, will begin in the new year.
In the background we are also completing a major broadcast technology upgrade for RNZ Concert which will make our work easier when completed in the next month or two.
Hints of what is to come in 2023
We will continue to improve RNZ Concert’s radio offering to our audiences. We are not planning a sudden change, more of a continued evolution based on best practice radio programming, audience research, and working to the strengths and expertise of our presentation team.
The morning show will be music-focused, bright and breezy to accompany the start to most people’s day, hosted by Siliga Sani Muliaumaseali'I from Monday to Thursday, and Carey McDonald Friday to Sunday.
During the day you can expect longer pieces, complete works and highlights from our live recordings, hosted by Nick Tipping.
We will be taking a new approach to spoken content on RNZ Concert (e.g. interviews, talk features/podcasts). The pandemic required us to pause our lunchtime interview programme Upbeat and we’ve used that time to review our approach to providing this important service in a way that listeners will embrace.
The afternoon show, presented by accomplished interviewer Bryan Crump and produced by former Upbeat producer Robyn Jaquiery, will be the destination for most of the talk content on RNZ Concert in the new year.
The evening programme with David Morriss will include Music Alive! With Clarissa Dunn.
Music Alive! and our commitment to live music performance along with Sound Lounge’s support of new and New Zealand composition remain priorities, as does collaborating with our performance partners to amplify the classical, art and adjacent music that is created and performed in Aotearoa.
I Like Classical Music
We are also taking some time to review and refresh our music playlist. For the first time we are asking RNZ Concert and other classical music listeners what they think of the repertoire we have played the most often over the past few years.
This involves interested people signing up online and taking some time to listen to short extracts of classical music, then indicating how they feel about each piece of music.
New Visual Imaging
We are excited to share some new visual design for RNZ Concert, created in-house as part of a wider RNZ logo and branding refresh.
RNZ Concert is re-imagined in rich blues and purples, with a jolt of red energy in flowing organic shapes that speak of richness, movement and energy, with a nod towards our location in the south Pacific. This more creative and dynamic style for RNZ Concert looks towards the future. We hope you love it as much as we do.
Thank you for listening to RNZ Concert this year. 2022 has been hard for everyone, and we have appreciated your support for what we do. Please join us for summer and beyond!
We wish you and yours a relaxing festive season and excellent listening in 2023.
From the RNZ Concert team.
