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Peter Hubscher, the former director of Montana Wines, has just published a book The Vintner's Tale which looks back on his career and dedicates a whole chapter to music.
His father Otto, a Jewish refugee from the Czech Republic, was a violinist and music teacher. Later in life, once he’d retired from full-time winemaking, Peter also embraced his musical side.
With his wife Pam, he set up the Tironui Music Trust which offers free musical tuition to young Aucklanders.
Peter told Three to Seven host Bryan Crump that the Trust came out of a concert the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra gave to workers at Montana Wines.
“A lot of the staff came up to me and said 'we can sing and we love music, but we never got the chance to learn an instrument properly'. That always stayed with me... we came up with this idea, could we do something with children who otherwise don’t get a chance to learn music."
The project began with 25 kids in South Auckland, 17 years ago. In 2023, there’s over 500 children learning instruments in ten different schools.
It's not about finding the next musical genius. The Tironui Music Trust aims to give kids a chance to play well enough to participate in bands or orchestras.
“We have real problem. That learning to play is too expensive. If it’s not just to be a rich person's segment of a society... the arts somehow miss out.”
Peter told Bryan he doesn’t want to extend the trust across the country, but maybe act as a role model for others to follow.
When asked what his favourite piece of classical music might be, he didn’t hesitate to nominate a piece by Mozart - his Serenade No 10 in Bb, Gran Partita.
“It’s about as good as you get”.
Music
Mozart: Third movement, Adagio, from Serenade No 10 in Bb K361, Gran Partita - Wind players of ASMF/Neville Marriner (Philips 412 726)
