Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra Back On Track For August

The Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra (APO) is delighted to announce its revamped line up for August with two great main series concerts in Auckland Town Hall, two intimate chamber ensemble performances in Howick and Remuera and a free community concert in South Auckland celebrating music from the movies.

The announcement comes on the eve of the APO’s triumphant return to the Auckland Town Hall stage with a sold-out concert featuring New Zealand pianist Michael Houstoun and the world premiere of a fanfare by New Zealand composer John Psathas, in celebration of the collective effort of our ‘Team of Five Million’.

As with the July concerts already announced some of the content for the main series programmes has had to change due to the ongoing impact of Covid-19. Audiences will still be able to enjoy Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in the Great Classics programme on 13 August, but the soloist will be talented New Zealander Amalia Hall. Similarly, for the New Zealand Herald Premier Series concert on 20 August APO’s brilliant, young Associate Concertmaster Liu-Yi Retallick has stepped in to perform Barber’s lyrical Violin Concerto.

APO CEO Barbara Glaser says: “We are thrilled to be up and running again and rolling out our musical programmes for the months ahead. The performing arts environment we are currently working in is extremely unpredictable. Availability of artists, travel plans and border restrictions are shifting like the wind - just as we have one thing locked in another thing falters. Even taking all this into consideration we are still confident that we will deliver the wonderful, high quality musical experiences our audiences have come to expect and love.”

From the end of March through to the end of June the orchestra stayed connected to audiences sharing a wide variety of online performances, including Encore Livestreams, at-home performances and special video content made for kids and families and activities, which have been viewed by over 3.6 million people worldwide.

Whilst many upcoming APO concerts are being reconfigured there will unfortunately still be some casualties of the changeable post-Covid environment. In light of this, Celebrate 40, scheduled for 9 September, has regrettably been cancelled. APO and/or Ticketmaster will be communicating with ticketholders for this concert.

Glaser continues: “It has been heart-warming to receive so many messages of support and encouragement from our subscribers, friends and whānau. We can’t wait to see everyone back in the Great Hall tomorrow evening for our reopening concert and out and about for our community concerts in August. It is very exciting for all of us to perform to a live audience again!”

Tickets for the APO’s July and August concerts are on sale through APO and Ticketmaster. Tickets purchased pre-COVID for the scheduled these concerts will still be valid for the new-look performances. More information can be found on www.apo.co.nz

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