Young Conductor Makes NZ Debut In Mainland

Exciting Young Conductor Makes NZ Debut In The Mainland

The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra will be returning to the mainland this October under the baton of Rumon Gamba. English-born Gamba is currently one of the hottest young conductors in Europe, his star continues to rise since winning the 1998 BBC Young Conductors Workshop which subsequently led to his appointment as Assistant and then Associate Conductor to the BBC Philharmonic until 2002.

Currently Music Director of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Gamba studied with Colin Metters at the Royal Academy of Music, and became the first ever conducting student to receive the DipRAM.

"I'm very interested to visit New Zealand," he told the NZSO recently, "there can't be a place further away from where I live, plus I'm fascinated to see the landscapes of Queenstown and Wanaka and see the comparisons with Iceland, a country I go to a lot."

Gamba will conduct the orchestra in a concert of great variety from the nostalgia of the Britten's Folk tunes to the charm of Mozart's Bassoon concerto, last performed by soloist, NZSO Principal Bassoon, Preman Tilson in Aichi - Japan while the orchestra was on their overseas tour.

There's an appealing surprise in Ross Harris's Music for Johnny which the orchestra performed as part of a concert featuring Dame Kiri te Kanawa at Snape Maltings in Suffolk in August. Finishing the concert is the fizzy exuberance of Mendelssohn's Italian symphony.

Conductor, Rumon Gamba's first musical experience was practically as soon as he was born as his father used to play in a folk group and he would be taken along to gigs. He says, "I loved to listen, although it wasn't until I went to school that I got my hands on a real instrument - a cello."

He finds the experience of performing live very exciting, saying "performing to an audience is the best way for music to exist - there is also a great sense of freedom, you can just conduct the music and you don't have to stop."

But Gamba doesn't always surround himself with classical music, he is currently listening to Ben Folds and his band - Ben Folds Five, a singer/songwriter whose music combines jazz, and power rock, "Ben Folds plays the piano like a man possessed," he says, "and the songs are fantastic!

LION FOUNDATION MAINLAND TOUR 2005 Visiting guest conductor Ramon Gamba presents a concert of great variety from the nostalgia of the opening Folk Songs and charm of Mozart's concerto and Weber's delectable Hungarian piece - performed here by NZSO Principal Bassoonist Lawrence Preman Tilson - to the fizzy exuberance of Mendelssohn's Italian Symphony. And there's an appealing surprise in NZ composer Ross Harris's Song for Jonny!

Monday 10 October at 7:30pm TOWN HALL DUNEDIN

Tuesday 11 October at 7:30pm OPERA HOUSE OAMARU

Wednesday 12 October at 7:30pm ST JAMES THEATRE GORE

Thursday 13 October at 7:30pm CIVIC THEATRE INVERCARGILL

Friday 14 October at 7:30pm EVENTS CENTRE QUEENSTOWN

Saturday 15 October at 7:30pm LAKE WANAKA CENTRE WANAKA

Rumon Gamba - Conductor Lawrence Preman Tilson - Bassoon

Britten: Suite on English Folk Tunes Mozart: Bassoon Concerto in B-flat Major K 191 Weber: Andante and Rondo Ungarese Op 35 Harris: Music for Jonny Mendelssohn: Symphony No 4 'Italian' Op.90 Book at your local ticket outlet - see advertising for more details.

© Scoop Media