NZTrio Continue On Their Expansive Journey Through The Clouds

NZTrio presents
Cumulus
Episode 2 in the Dramatic Skies series

NZTrio is set to embark on the second journey through the atmosphere in their Dramatic Skies series, bringing Cumulus to four centres from August 22. Having spent much of 2021 collaborating with clarinettists, ballet dancers, and pop musicians, Ashley Brown (cello), Amalia Hall (violin), and Somi Kim (piano) are excited to perform in full flight as a three-piece with this new programme which conveys both catharsis and hope, featuring a new commission from celebrated Kiwi composer Jenny McLeod.

Ultimately representative of the clouds that signal fair weather, Cumulus maps a dramatic voyage. From deep melancholy touched with hints of hope in the Grieg, through a quirky reflection of Ravel’s life and music from Schifrin’s unique point of view, and deep into Smetana’s mournful response to the death of his daughter. These billowing global masterpieces come to surround and embrace the eminent locals at the heart of the programme - two edgy works by Kiwi composers at the peak of creativity: a rediscovery of Alex Taylor’s remarkable set of rugged miniatures burlesques mécaniques, and the premiere of a mist-covered new work from Jenny McLeod.

Considered one of Aotearoa’s most naturally gifted composers, McLeod (ONZM) was self-taught as a child before attending Victoria University in the early 60s, where she became a lecturer and then professor. Best known for expanding Dutch composer Peter Schat’s Tone-Clock Theory, McLeod’s work as a composer often explores themes of the natural world, including her two major works, Earth and Sky and Under the Sun. An extension of this exploration, the new commission for NZTrio, Clouds is described purely by McLeod’s own adjective-laden poem/programme note, promising a soundscape that is ‘here, there, high, bright, low, dense, dark’ and more.

NZTrio opens Cumulus on August 22 at St Andrew's on The Terrace in Wellington, before returning to their Auckland home-base in the enchanting Auckland Town Hall Concert Chamber on September 5, followed by a South Island jaunt to The Arts Centre in Christchurch on September 9, a special showcase with the Greytown Music Group on October 10, and closing with a slightly shortened (1 hour no interval) version at The Wallace Arts Centre, Pah Homestead in Auckland on October 13.

© Scoop Media