Prestigious NZCT Chamber Music Contest Finals This Weekend

Prestigious NZCT Chamber Music Contest Finals This Weekend

It's happening! This is going to be a big event. After months of preparations, dedicated students have been through a long journey with their violins, oboes, cellos, and even a guzheng, through the District Rounds, to the Regional Finals and now the National Finals! Chamber Music New Zealand's annual and celebrated NZCT Chamber Music Contest, is coming to a crescendo at the National Finals on 3rd - 4th August in Christchurch. This will be a showcase of what our talented youth have to offer in music.

414 groups entered nationally from Whangarei to Invercargill. From string quartets, percussion quintets and piano trios to original compositions, New Zealand's only secondary school Chamber Music Contest proves that the music-life among our students in Aotearoa is alive and kicking.

But from those hundreds of groups, only 12 groups from around New Zealand have made it through to the National Finals this weekend in Christchurch, so the stakes are high. The Senior Composition piece has already been won by Benjamin Sneyd-Utting with String Quartet no. 1, which you will hear at the Contest weekend performed by Porirua's Virtuoso Strings Quartet.

Last year's winners of the Chamber Music Contest, Druz'ya Quartet received $6000 from the Wallace Foundation. "Winning the contest was amazing"(Lucas Baker, violinist). Many past contest winners and alumni have gone on to have international careers in music in the NZSO, Gewandhaus Orchestra, The Philharmonia and Sydney Symphony to name but a few: the NZCT Chamber Music Contest is truly a springboard for Aotearoa's musicians of the future.

If you are not based in Christchurch, you can still follow the action directly from your computer! CMNZ will post details of the Contest finals LIVE STREAM closer to the event. Visit www.chambermusic.co.nz/contest for details.

ENDS

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