Auckland-based composer Victoria Kelly’s latest work Requiem takes inspiration from the work of New Zealand poets and photography - drawing on the words of Bill Manhire, Sam Hunt, Chloe Honum, Ian Wedde and James K Baxter as well as the exquisite images of Anne Noble.
A secular version of a well-known classical music form, Kelly has created an orchestral and choral work featuring the voices of Simon O’Neill and Jayne Tankersley with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra.
"...the work itself is just about what it means to be mortal, what it means to be alive, how it feels to have a sense of wonder and terror at the universe that we occupy, and it's a way of thinking about where we sit in it."
- Victoria Kelly in conversation with Kim Hill
While Requiem is to be given its world premiere at the 2023 Auckland Arts Festival on March 11, recorded singles have just been released from a section of the work interpreting a poem by Sam Hunt - both a te reo version sung by Anika Moa, ‘He Taurere’ and in English, performed by O’Neill.
