Classical on Cuba Photo: Orchestra Wellington
It might be the middle of winter, but for the optimists among us that means spring is just around the corner. Which means another carnival is just around the corner in Wellington’s Cuba Street.
Elliot Vaughan Photo: Tom Noble
Elliot Vaughan is the man responsible for the music in Classical on Cuba, a festival run by the same oganisation that brings Wellingtonians CubaDupa.
Elliot’s managed to wrangle dozens of musicians to perform up and down and around the central city mall over the first weekend of September, with a view to getting musicians into venues not usually associated with music, such as the Goethe Institute and a furniture store.
He’s even organised a classical-style performance of Rihanna’s ‘Umbrella’, under the Cuba Street art work of the same name. Elliot was less committal about any music action in or around the Bucket Fountain...
Elliot Vaughan spoke to Bryan Crump on RNZ Concert’s Three to Seven about Classical on Cuba, his work as a composer and arranger, and his new collaboration with fellow Wellington creatives, Salina Fisher, Tristan Carter and Nicholas Denton-Protsack: the Moth Quartet.
The string quartet, which will make is public debut as part of Classical on Cuba, specialises in that still rare thing in classical music – improvisation – which includes jamming in improvisatory venues, such as mountain streams in Tongariro National Park.
