New Zealand Chamber Soloists April Tour 2014 – Press Release
Setting off on the winding roads of North and South Island for the first time in nearly three years, the New Zealand
Chamber Soloists are feeling the excitement that you only really experience when playing – at home. Widely recognised as
one of the country’s most influential game makers in chamber music, the trio has continued to delight international
audiences during their longer than planned hiatus from the local touring circuit. Highlights during this “time-out” have
included concerts in Shanghai, Singapore, Rome, Paris, Crete, Syros, Paros and Melbourne, playing a diverse portfolio of
New Zealand composers and traditional chamber repertoire. Works by Psathas, Farr, Lodge, Williams and de Castro
Robinson, completely new to their audiences, have stood their ground alongside Brahms, Dvorak, Martinu and the Beethoven
Triple Concerto performed in Greece.
At the heart of recent tours are two new musical gems written for them by John Psathas, “Corybas” and “Aegean”. These,
along with works by Martinu and Dvorak will complete the NZ touring programme. Commissioned for the trio by patron, Ian
Graham on the event of his wife’s Agi’s birthday, the NZCS premiered the works on the Island of Crete at the Casa Dei
Mezzo festival in 2012 and then in Melbourne and Auckland in 2013.
The Graham’s have made a remarkable contribution to the classical music development in New Zealand over the past decade
– not only in the commissioning of new works and patronage, but more recently with the sizable “Graham Grant”. This
$500K donation to the University of Waikato, Conservatorium of Music allows for unparalleled opportunity in New Zealand
for performers and composers to engage in developmental and creative opportunities of broad artistic scope and
excellence, unfettered by imposed strategic funding criteria. The relationship between composer John Psathas, Tennant
and Austin is also longstanding, going back to such works as “Three Island Songs” (1999). The next instalment in this
artistic relationship is a piano and cello duo that Psathas is writing for them to delve into in 2015. The NZCS’s most
recent album, “Corybas” is available from Atoll records. It includes all of Psathas’ chamber music which uses piano. The
album features, Tennant, Austin and Lara Hall with guests Amalia Hall and Robert Ashworth and was produced by
multi-award winning producer, Wayne Laird(ONZM).
This year sees a change in the line-up of the core trio. Amalia Hall is guest violinist for 2014, standing in for her
sister, Lara who is on maternity leave. She is widely recognized as one of New Zealand's foremost young violinists,
having won all of the national competitions in NZ as well as the Postacchini International Violin Competition in Italy.
She is also a laureate of the International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians and Kloster Schöntal
International Violin Competition. At the age of 9 Amalia made her solo debut with the Auckland Philharmonia, which has
been followed by numerous other appearances as a soloist with orchestras in NZ. She is a graduate of the Curtis
Institute of Music where she studied under the tutelage of Pamela Frank and Joseph Silverstein, and the University of
Auckland, studying with Dimitri Atanassov.
Amalia will also accompany James and Katherine on their UK adventures in January 2015 which among other performances
will feature three concerts in Scotland during the time of New Zealand being the cultural country of honour. While New
Zealand’s leading indigenous and pop musicians perform on the stages of Celtic Connections, the biggest winter festival
in the Northern Hemisphere, the NZCS will be toured by Enterprise Music Scotland, Scotland’s equivalent of Chamber Music
New Zealand. This will be followed by concerts in England.
More information about the group can be found on their website, www.nzchambersoloists.com or contact them through their management agency, Koru Artists, www.koruartists.com .