Kapiti Student Musicians

Sunday 27 May 2018 – Juniors 1.30pm & Seniors 4.30pm
Sunday 11 November 2018 3:30pm

These concerts are designed to provide local music students with stage experience, including learning how to acknowledge applause.

May 2018: The first concert at 1.30pm introduces junior students and at 4.30pm more advanced students perform.

Nov 2018 3:30pm: with students’ schedules packed out with exams, a smaller combined concert.

Entry is by donation. There is no set charge.

The standard of performance is improving year by year and these young people are among the best at their level.
We cannot know in advance just what each programme will contain, but there are always some very good pianists
and we also expect other instrumentalists or singers and some talented groups.

Some of our former student musicians have gone on to greater things.

Baritone Kieran Rayner has graduated from London’s Royal College
of Music International Opera School where he had generous support
from the Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation.

Blythe Press (violin) is a member of the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra in Norway.

From 2017 – Robin Shen and Joni Tran – the tallest and the smallest of our current
batch of talented students pose for a photo after concert 11 Nov 2017.

Sunday 30th September at 2.30pm

“With her explosive temperament and a mastery that could defy today’s greatest violinists, Goicea revealed nothing short of ingenuity” (Badisches Tagblatt – Baden-Baden)
“His rhythmic acuity, lightness of touch and nuanced dynamics realised both the moments of witty caprice and wistful introspection.” (The Australian)

Two of the latest rising stars in the international music scene are Romanian violinist Ioana Cristina Goicea and Russian pianist Andrey Gugnin. As well as their recent southern hemisphere triumphs they have both won numerous awards and accolades throughout the world. Ioana has won the Brahms International and the Andrea Postacchini International Violin Competitions, while Andrey has taken both the Gold Medal and the Audience Award at the XVI International Gina Bachauer Piano Competition. To hear both of these stunning young musicians together in one concert is an absolute privilege.
Their programme is certainly not lacking in passion and fireworks. Schubert’s Rondo Brilliant lives up to its title – fiery and filled with virtuosic flair. George Enescu was one of the most brilliant musical figures of the 20th Century, and Romania’s most important composer. His Opus 25 Sonata is one of his finest works and is music that is sure to be close to the heart of our Romanian violinist, filled as it is with the atmospheric melancholy of its folk-like melodies. Two works by Brahms complete the programme – the dramatic and technically challenging third sonata and, to close, the driving brilliance of the brief one movement Scherzo.

This concert is presented in association with

Tour partner

Sunday 2nd September at 2.30pm

We share our important milestone of 40 years with Donald Armstrong’s Amici Ensemble, making their 25th appearance in Waikanae. This amazingly long and rewarding partnership has brought us many memorable concerts since Amici first played in Waikanae in 1989. In a delightful coincidence, Mozart’s glorious Clarinet Quintet was on that 1989 programme. We look forward to hearing it again, also Ravel’s evocative Introduction and Allegro, one of the highlights of Amici’s 2010 concert.

One of our Society’s objectives is to commission a new work from a New Zealand composer to mark each 5th anniversary. Each of these works has been premiered by Donald and his band of prominent NZSO musicians. Our 2018 commission is from a young composer who is one of this country’s most exciting new voices. Salina Fisher has won the prestigious Sounz Contemporary Award two years in a row and has been honoured with a 2017 New Generation Award from the NZ Arts Foundation. A recipient of a Waikanae Music Society Charitable Trust scholarship, Salina is currently studying at New York’s Manhattan School of Music. Her new work, “Coastlines”, which takes its inspiration from the Waikanae landscape, will be one of the highlights of a delightful programme that also includes Mozart’s sparkling Flute Quartet and Debussy’s magical Syrinx.

The 40th Anniversary Commission is supported by the Lion Foundation and Wellington Community Trust

The Klara Kollektiv is a trio formed in 2016 as an off-shoot of the Dalacarlia Clarinet Quintet who played for us in 2016. Based in Sweden, the group includes New Zealanders Anna McGregor (clarinet) and violinist Manu Berkeljon. Anna has performed with many of Sweden’s top orchestras and is currently Associate Principal Clarinet at Wermland Opera in Karlstad. Manu has played in orchestras throughout New Zealand, Australia, Sweden and England and since 2011 has been Associate Principle Second Violin in the DalaSinfoniettan. They are joined for this tour by Finnish-born pianist Taru Kurki, Head of Piano Department at the Falun Music Conservatory in Sweden. The group’s name is derived from the word klar (meaning clear) and also from the river Klara which runs past Anna’s apartment in the city of Karlstadt. Kollektiv is the Swedish spelling of the word ‘collective’.

The ensemble’s programme reflects the New Zealand heritage of two of the performers, with a work by one of this country’s most respected composers, Anthony Ritchie. Two major duo sonatas will follow – the famous Franck Violin Sonata and Brahms’ richly atmospheric Clarinet Sonata No 1. The concert will conclude with the colourful rhythms and exotic folk tunes of a trio by Armenian composer Aram Khachaturian.

This concert is presented in association with

Sunday 24th June at 2.30pm

A fabulous concert of Romantic favourites with an impressive line-up of fabulous New Zealand musicians – this promises to be one of the highlights of our season. We have previously (in 2014) enjoyed a concert of piano trios from Wilma, Michael and Eliah, and know what a formidable combination they make. Wilma, Michael and Gillian Ansell of the NZSQ need no introduction – they are among the best-known of New Zealand’s musicians and we regularly enjoy their presence on our stage. Bulgarian-born Eliah has also played for us twice. Until recently the Principal Cello of the Auckland Philharmonia. Violinist Caroline von Bismarck has withdrawn from this concert for family reasons and will be replaced by Monique Lapins, second violinist of the New Zealand String Quartet.

This concert brings us a chance to hear two of the most glorious piano quintets of the late 19th century. Dvořák’s Opus 81 is one of the best-known of all piano quintets, a real favourite filled with the spirit of Czech folk music. Dohnányi, on the other hand, did not enjoy writing in the style of his Hungarian origins and his music is more in the romantic tradition of Brahms who greatly admired this lush emotional work. A peaceful interlude between these two passionate works will be provided by Puccini’s exquisite miniature for string quartet – Crisantemi (Crysanthemums).

Sunday 20th May at 2.30pm