Waikanae Music Society will close its 2022 season with a concert from the New Zealand Chamber Soloists on Sunday 30 October. The concert was originally scheduled for June but had to be postponed when the Waikanae Memorial Hall suffered flood damage. Since then the musicians have moved on to new repertoire and will now appear as a piano quartet instead as the original trio.
Acclaimed pianist Katherine Austin, violinist Lara Hall and cellist James Tennant will be joined by Dimitri Atanassov, a former Concertmaster of the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra. They will perform a popular programme of piano quartets by Mozart and Schumann, in fact the Schumann is one of the best-loved works of its kind. Also on the programme will be a piano trio by New Zealand composer Helen Bowater. Called Fekete Folyó (Black River), the piece refers to the river Danube which flows through Budapest on its journey from the Black Forest to the Black Sea. The music draws on the poignant and exuberant folk music of that region. It has been commissioned by the New Zealand Chamber Soloists as part of a project to promote music by New Zealand women composers.
Katherine Austin, Lara Hall and James Tennant are all well-known performers who teach at Waikato University Conservatorium of Music. Bulgarian-born Dimitri Atanassov has spent the last few years in Cremona, Italy, where he has established himself as a violin maker and restorer. However, at present he is back in New Zealand and eager to perform again with his old colleagues. For this concert he and Lara Hall will share the roles of violin and viola.
The concert, which is held in partnership with Chamber Music New Zealand, will be in the Waikanae Memorial Hall, starting at 2.30pm. Door sales will be available or tickets can be purchased at Waikanae New World and Moby Dickens Books in Paraparaumu Beach. For ticket enquiries call 021 2517030 or visit www.waikanaemusic.org.nz
