Upbeat

Celebrated Chinese composer and conductor Tan Dun will make his Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra debut on Tuesday with his new work Passacaglia: Secret of Wind and Birds which tries to explain the… Read more Audio

2017 is a busy year for Australian Bass James Clayton. He’s playing the title role in New Zealand Opera’s The Mikado, and Escamillo in Carmen before jetting across the Tasman to work in Melbourne and… Read more Audio

Your surrounding environment can inspire creativity. For Amsterdam based dancer and choreographer Frank van de Ven this is the basis of his artistic philosophy. He’s giving a week long workshop at… Read more Audio

Famed kiwi musician Tim Finn has ventured into the world of musicals with Ladies in Black. The musical is set in 1959 in an up-market department store in Sydney and follows 16 year old lead character… Read more Audio

Moses Mackay, one third of Sol3 Mio, talks to Zoë George about going out on his own, the move to more contemporary music and the price of fame. Read more Audio

Horns, hooks and improvised jazz all make up the spectacle that is a Snarky Puppy concert. The band, which has a roster of 25 musicians, returns to Auckland in April. Band founder and bassist Michael… Read more Audio

Story telling is at the heart of musician Jamie McCaskill’s new one man show Mata and the Mysterious Musical Maunga which he performs as part of Capital E’s National Arts Festival for children in… Read more Audio

The Christchurch earthquakes caused devastating damage to many of the city’s creative spaces. But rising from the rubble has been the Isaac Theatre Royal under the watchful eye of Neil Cox. He’s… Read more Audio

What does it take to compose an original piece in just 10 days? Prolific Christchurch composer Philip Norman takes Upbeat through the creative process behind his new piece written while he was the… Read more Audio

New Zealand plays host to the 44th International Viola Congress this September. Organiser Donald Maurice and congress manager Elyse Dalabakis explain why they’ve decided to bring it to Wellington. The… Read more Audio

Local school children will take to the stage alongside The Nukes as part of this year’s Coastella Music Festival. Musicians visiting the Kapiti Coast for the festival will give workshops and… Read more Audio

The new opera The Bone Feeder composed by Gareth Farr and written by Renee Liang is rich with complexity. English, Cantonese and Maori languages intertwine reflecting the story of a young New Zealand… Read more Audio