Loft Series Farewells Remarkable Violinist

Media Release – For Immediate Release

LOFT SERIES FAREWELLS NZTRIO’S REMARKABLE VIOLINIST ANDWELCOMES NEW GUESTS

NZTrio presents
LOFT SERIES 2017

NZTrio’s popular Loft Series returns to Auckland in 2017, featuring new commissions amongst an eclectic mix of old and new musical masterpieces, with Swoop in May, Spiral in August and Soar in November. Expect an intimate setting in Q Theatre’s loft space, great acoustics, top calibre talent, custom cocktails, and friendly company. Following violinist Justine Cormack’s final Loft concert with the Trio in May, surprise guest musicians will join the NZTrio in the remaining two Loft Series.

Swoop, Spiral, and Soar name the sensations awaiting audiences, and arguably applicable to a single musical work, or the whole concert! NZTrio’s beguiling knack for pairing widely varied works into a single concert experience, is unparalleled - akin to masterful art curation, where each chosen piece enhances the meaning and perspective in the others. This series is no exception – it is playful, daring, comforting, and nostalgic.

Loft 1: Swoop marks the end of an era for NZTrio, being the last public performance in Auckland of the ‘original crew’ before Justine Cormack’s departure from the group, after 15 years together. This concert offers both a rigorous and soothing programme, converging sweeping nostalgia (Frank Bridge) with epic legends of faraway lands (Shen Nalin) and honeyed sonic hues (Chris Gendall), before a magnificent - albeit final - curtain (Franz Schubert).

Promising forward motion and adventurous leaps into the unknown, Loft 2: Spiral includes a new commission from New Zealand composer Samuel Holloway, who describes his piece as ‘a bold and obsessive exploration of self’. This collection of works is packed with introspective character (Arnold Bax), unseen currents of strength and depth (Jenny McLeod), and teetering precipices from which to safely test boundaries (Ludwig van Beethoven).

To wrap up the season, Loft 3: Soar prepares us for new heights and perspectives. Weaving through changing tapestries, you’ll find yourself adrift in daydreams (John Ireland) where life’s complexity is seemingly simplified (Anthony Ritchie), primordial soundscapes pacify (Dorothy Ker), and naivety is blissfully deliberate like a game of hide and seek (Franz Schubert).

“The sheer passion of the musicians, up close and personal in the Q Loft, was thrilling. The anger in the massive walls of sound in its first movement well caught the composer’s grief at the death of Tchaikovsky…Not to be missed.” - William Dart, New Zealand Herald, 2016

From art galleries to concert halls, museums to countryside pubs, this busy year will see NZTrio performing for audiences locally and internationally, whilst searching for a new violinist. In June, NZTrio will kick off their second biennial Composing Competition, nurturing New Zealand’s brightest young musical talent. They will hold workshops with tertiary composing students, who are challenged to write a musical work inspired by a NZ author or poet.

NZTrio Loft Series
Loft Series 1 – Swoop
May: Sun 21st, 5pm & Tue 23rd, 7pm. Duration approx. 90 mins + interval

http://www.qtheatre.co.nz/nztrio-2017-loft-series-1-swoop

Loft Series 2 – Spiral
August: Sun 13th 5pm & Tue 15th, 7pm. Duration approx. 90 mins + interval
http://www.qtheatre.co.nz/nztrio-2017-loft-series-2-spiral

Loft Series 3 – Soar
November: Sun 12th 5pm & Tue 14th 7pm. Duration approx. 90 mins + interval
http://www.qtheatre.co.nz/nztrio-2017-loft-series-3-soar

Venue: Q Theatre Loft, 305 Queen St, Auckland CBD
Tickets: Adult $50, Student $25 - booking fees apply
2017 Subscription – all three concerts for $135 Adult
Bookings: www.qtheatre.co.nz or phone 09 309 9771

Special subscription offer: Purchase the whole series (3 x concert subscription $135) before May 21st and receive 50% off any Tuesday performance to treat yourself again or bring a friend. Plus, you’ll be entered into a draw for a $200 WORLD clothing voucher, or $100 treatment voucher from biodynamic massage (drawn live after Loft 1 on May 21st).

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