Upbeat

Christian Kahnt is the new Director of Goethe-Institut New Zealand. He talks about what appealed to him about New Zealand and what he wants to achieve here. One of his many jobs is creating the German… Read more Audio

Wellington painter Melanie Mills created a stir in the visual arts world when her first show of paintings based on flowers was an immediate sell-out. Melanie Mills and curator Kathlene Fogarty from… Read more Audio, Gallery

The Damnation of Faust by Berlioz was performed by Edo de Waart, with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and an international cast this past weekend. The concert performance of an opera has been a… Read more Audio

Playwright Jan Bolwell tells her grandfather’s First World War experiences through her teenage self in her show Bill Massey’s Tourists. It’s currently touring the country telling gripping, painful and… Read more Audio

Patrick Nolan discusses his direction of Kátya Kabanová for New Zealand Opera. The production comes from Seattle where it was premiered earlier this year. It features the same creative team but a… Read more Audio

The Big Sing finals are here with 24 choirs from across the country hitting the top notes. The final decisions will come down to three international judges:  Jonathan Grieves-Smith from Melbourne and… Read more Video, Audio

Victoria University of Wellington along with some of the biggest names in New Zealand film and design technology have come together to form a new hub where students can learn from the best. The… Read more Audio

The Royal Shakespeare Company took a punt on Roald Dahl’s much loved story Matilda by commissioning Australian composer and lyricist Tim Minchin to turn it into a magical musical in which children… Read more Audio

In every three to five million people there is likely to be one musical prodigy. Could your child be the next Lang Lang? Professor Gary McPherson explains what traits musical prodigies have, what age… Read more Audio

The Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra and cellist Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt are showing defiance in this week’s concert of the same name. Featuring works from Messiaen, Saint-Saens and Shostakovich, the… Read more Audio

Lullabies are common to all cultures and are varied in their themes and moods. Anthony Ritchie’s Lullabies is being performed by City Choir Dunedin  featuring more than 140 performers. Composer… Read more Audio

Metropolitan Opera star Eric Owens is as much at home with classical music as he is with contemporary. It’s no wonder, having spent the last 40 years learning and plying his craft. The American… Read more Audio