NEWSLETTER
Felix the Quartet

Antony Peebles' concert was very well attended and, as it transpired, gave us more than just musical pleasure. Thanks must go to our very patient audience who waited good-naturedly during an extended interval while our pianist, along with Arnold Solomons, Wendy van Delden and several members from the audience did a bit of "sleight of hand" to fix a wee problem with one of the keys.


We are very pleased with the screens that now adorn the back of the stage. The Committee has not only noticed that the sound seems to be much improved (especially for stringed instruments), but has also had favourable comments from the musicians who have noticed the difference.


Our concert on 1 May is Felix the Quartet. Called 'Felix the Quartet' to distinguish it from that famous cartoon feline, Felix, and also in honour of one of the musicians' favourite coffee shops, this lively quartet was founded in 2000 by four prominent members of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. Their vibrant performances have been well received throughout the country, reflecting their assertion that they have 'unseemly amounts of fun' when rehearsing! We last saw this string quartet in 2001, but with a slightly different line-up. At the end of 2002 Wilma Smith left New Zealand to become Concertmaster of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Since then they have now been joined by Rebecca Struthers, another of their NZSO colleagues.


SUNDAY 1 May AT 2.30PM WAIKANAE MEMORIAL HALL

Felix the Quartet

HAYDN Quartet in G
SCHNITTKE Quartet No 3 (1983)
MENDELSSOHN String Quartet in E minor, Opus 44, No 2

Per concert price:   Members $15,  Public $21,  "Under 20s" no charge

Some information about the Schnittke I copied this from a review I found on the Internet - "The first thing we hear is a cadence from the Renaissance, a Stabat Mater of Orlando di Lasso, which Schnittke develops more extensively later in the piece. Then an undisguised quotation of the [Beethoven] Grosse Fuge enters, and later the D-S-C-H motif of Shostakovich. Schnittke's employment of these references never approaches cheap pastiche or montage. The entire piece grows organically from the three borrowed motifs, plus one of Schnittke's own (with passing references to Das Rheingold and other works). The piece ends with the Shostakovich tetrachord in quiet pizzicato."


Vesa-Matti Lepp�nen was appointed the Concertmaster of the NZSO in 2003. Prior to that he had been Assistant Concertmaster with the NZSO since 2000, when he left his native Finland to take up the position. He began to play the violin at the age of five and studied at the Turku Conservatory and the Sibelius Academy. In 1987 he won a national competition for young violinists and in 1989 his Concordo String Quartet won a special prize in the Tulindberg International String Quartet Competition. Since then he has performed with various chamber groups and as soloist with many orchestras. He also performs with the New Zealand contemporary music group "Stroma".
After studying at the Royal Academy of Music, Rebecca Struthers spent several years based in London freelancing with orchestras and chamber music groups throughout Europe and the UK. She returned home to play in the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in 1991. Rebecca is a member of the NZSO Chamber Orchestra, leads the Chiesa Ensemble and plays regularly with the Amici Ensemble, and with Stroma. Rebecca is a familiar face to our audiences, having performed here a number of times with the Amici Ensemble.
While Andrew Thomson plays viola in this quartet, his main instrument is violin. Born in 1974, he has lived almost all his life in Wellington. He graduated from Victoria University with a BMus Hons and from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music with a MMus. In 2000, he became the NZSO's Principal Second Violin and its youngest section principal. He performs regularly with the New Zealand Chamber Orchestra and Stroma.
Rowan Prior began learning cello in England when she was eight. After moving to New Zealand, she studied with Ellen Doyle in Christchurch until she was eighteen. She was awarded a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music in London where she won prizes for solo and chamber music performances. She has been a member of the NZSO and New Zealand Chamber Orchestra since 1996, and also performs with Stroma. She has also performed solos with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra and Wellington Sinfonia.