Five Days & Counting Before NZSO Leave For Europe

8 August, 2005

Media release

Five Days And Counting Before The NZSO Leave For Europe

With only five days to go, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra will embark on their most historic tour to date - to make their debut at the BBC Proms, Snape Maltings and the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam. The orchestra will leave New Zealand this Friday, 12th August and return on Wednesday 24th August.

We will be giving you exclusive daily updates and pictures on the orchestra's tour to the BBC Proms, Snape Maltings and the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam from 14th August through the NZSO's blog site: http://nzso.blogspot.com/

The Blog will be updated overnight - and will feature posts from rehearsals at Cadogan Hall and Dame Kiri te Kanawa's performance in Aldeborough, as well as live blogs from the interval and post concert of the BBC Prom (around 7.15am & 9.45am Friday 19 August NZ time) and the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam (7.15am and 8.45am Saturday 20th August NZ time).

There will also be a special sponsor concert at Cadogen Hall (the orchestra's rehearsal space while in London) which will include Haydn's Toy Symphony featuring star soloists, one of which is NZ High Commissioner, Jonathan Hunt.

Concert FM has announced that they will be recording the orchestra's Snape Proms and BBC Proms concerts for later broadcast. The Snape Proms concert will be broadcast in New Zealand on 22nd August and the BBC Proms will be broadcast on 29th August. Charlotte Wilson, Upbeat presenter (12-2pm weekdays) will also be talking to Bridget Douglas, NZSO Principal Flute while she is on the European Tour on her experiences of the UK and Amsterdam. While in Japan, Charlotte will talk to Principal Horn, Edward Allen.

As announced in March, a TVNZ documentary crew will be accompanying the orchestra throughout this tour, covering various aspects of the 'band' both in performance, rehearsal, flights and at play. This will be broadcast early in 2006 on TV One.

This is the largest tour outside New Zealand that the NZSO has ever undertaken, the first ever appearance by a New Zealand orchestra at the prestigious BBC Proms and will feature two of New Zealand's most prominent music ambassadors, Dame Kiri te Kanawa and Jonathan Lemalu.

The concert programme for all four concerts represents the diverse repertoire that the orchestra regularly performs around New Zealand. This will include songs from Mahler's Des Knaben Wunderhorn and Sibelius' fantastic Second Symphony to some of the best examples of New Zealand music including Lilburn's Third Symphony and Gareth Farr's Naga Baba.

The orchestra last toured to Europe for the 1992 World Expo at Seville and in more recent years has travelled to Australia and Japan as part of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Festival and the International Performing Arts Festival in Osaka in 2003.

ENDS

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