Upbeat

50 years ago today The Beatles released Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Yes really… half a century. Nick Bollinger explores why it was such a revolutionary record, examines who contributed to… Read more

Maestro Masaaki Suzuki and Juilliard 415 are touring the country as part of the Chamber Music New Zealand tour. They played an entirely Bach programme at Wellington’s Michael Fowler on Tuesday… Read more

Santana vocalist Tony Lindsay is touring NZ with Rodger Fox Big Band. The 11 time Grammy award winner has toured the world extensively with Santana, and recorded seven albums with the band, as well as… Read more Audio

New Zealand Opera’s Carmen opening this week is the result of a director/designer partnership going back 25 years. Lindy Hume and Dan Potra made their names in the opera world with their “… Read more Audio

Masaaki Suzuki is renowned for his performances and recordings of Bach with his group Bach Collegium Japan. New York's Juilliard School is among the world's leading and prestigious performing arts… Read more Audio

Actors Peter Hambleton and Bronwyn Turei star in the New Zealand premiere of film writer Patrick Marber’s Three Days in the Country, based on Russian writer Ivan Turgenev’s classic A Month in the… Read more Audio

New Zealand musician, composer and producer David Long’s new album is abstract, haunting and beautiful. He collaborated on Utterance with taonga puoro player Richard Nunns and harpist Natalia Mann… Read more Audio

A fallen New Zealand mountaineer has provided inspiration for an opera by British composer Joby Talbot.  Read more Video, Audio

Two new compositions by the top prize winners of the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra's Student Composers Competition take centre stage in Auckland this weekend. Choral works by Sarah Fouhy and Lachlan… Read more Audio

For the first time a piano soloist is taking over the Auckland Town Hall organ. Brit Jeremy Filsell is a multi-faceted musician who's established a career on piano and organ and is a global authority… Read more Audio

Concern is running high in Waikato over potential staff cuts at the University Conservatorium of Music. Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Waikato are undergoing restructuring by… Read more Audio

Shakespeare’s turn of phrase has the ability to trip up even the most apt of linguists.  But English actor, author and producer Ben Crystal is making Shakespeare’s words easier to understand and say… Read more Audio