Upbeat

Michael Houstoun played the entire 96 pieces of Bach's Well Tempered Clavier Books I & II this past weekend. The pieces that make up the two books were written as exercises for Bach's pupils. Peter… Read more Audio

The music of rock's greatest chameleon will fill the Horncastle Arena this Saturday. Symphonic Oddity, the Music of David Bowie features NZ singers Jon Toogood, Julia Deans, Laughton Kora and Anna… Read more Audio

A choir from Pennsylvania is touring the country and inviting local choristers to join them in school exchanges and workshops. The Allegheny College Chamber Choir is a select group of highly invested… Read more Audio

Singaporean Darrell Ang is back conducting the NZSO after their Naxos recording was nominated for a Grammy Award last year. Elizabeth Kerr reviews Pathétique – Tchaikovsky & Dvořák which features… Read more Audio

Annelies is a choral piece that tells Anne Frank’s brave journey of hiding from the Nazis. The work will have its New Zealand premiere this week from the Auckland Youth Choir. British composer James… Read more Audio

The piano takes centre stage at The Piano for Christopher’s Classics. Pianist Diedre Irons along with NZSO Concert master Vesa-Matti Leppanen, Principal Viola Julia Joyce and Principal Cello Andrew… Read more Audio

Highly regarded Scandinavian cellist Torleif Thedéen made his Christchurch Symphony Orchestra debut on Saturday night, performing Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No 1. Tony Ryan reviews the concert that… Read more Audio

Alison Isadora brings her complex and multi-leveled musical works to the New Zealand School of Music as the composer in residence. She follows in the footsteps of other composers including Dame… Read more Audio

Turning sound into visuals is the idea behind one of the pieces at the Lux Light Festival on in Wellington this week. Sound artists Mo Zareei and Jim Murphy have collaborated on a piece called… Read more Audio

The author of Contested Will: Who Wrote Shakespeare? James Shapiro draws parallels between characters like Lear and Othello with today’s politicians.  Shapiro is here for the Auckland Writers Festival… Read more Audio

The rapid growth of Western classical music in Asia will see three new concert halls built in the city of Chengdu alone in the next year or two. Singaporean born conductor Darrell Ang, who is in this… Read more Audio

Eight piece jazz band The Jac have been on the road for a Chamber Music NZ tour in the lead up to the Wellington Jazz Festival collaboration with Korean traditional/fusion group Black String. Alto… Read more Audio