Michael Norris discusses collaborative composition piece for 2023 MHIVC
Composing in the modern age

Michael Norris discusses collaborative composition piece for 2023 MHIVC

Ahead of the 2023 Michael Hill International Violin Competition, we spoke to Michael Norris, this year's Composer of the NZ Commissioned Work, about his creation of 'Waipounamu' - an original musical work. The work will be performed live by all 16 quarter-finalists in Queenstown on 4-5 June 2023. The role of the work within the competition is to demonstrate a young artist’s individual interpretive skills and identify a competitor’s capabilities with contemporary repertoire – in the absence of…

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Final day festival wrap-up
Wakatipu Music Festival Closing Ceremony

Final day festival wrap-up

And, just like that, the Whakatipu Music Festival is all finished for 2021. What a wonderful whirlwind of classical music! We are so lucky to have gathered such immense musical talent and music lovers together in Queenstown this long weekend. A true match made in heaven (or the mountains, depends how you look at it!) Thank you so much for joining us for this inaugural classical music event. Everyone's support counts massively towards our overall success, we thank you…

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Day 3 Highlights!

Sunday sunshine came for our morning Community Music Showcase. Stunning performances from a variety of ages, genres, and abilities - all talented and wonderful people! Continuing our celebration of music into the afternoon, our second instalment of Young Artist Recitals was a beautiful melody of sound. Into the evening, our Young Artists came together for a Chamber Ensemble concert. Professionally captured and recorded for posterity with the help of RNZ Concert, The Violin Channel, and TomTom Productions, relive…

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Day 2 Highlights!
Anna Leese, soprano, with Stephen De Pledge, piano

Day 2 Highlights!

Saturday 5 June saw Whakatipu Music Festival step into an all-day musical groove. Kicking off with our Community Music Showcase featuring local musicians in the morning! It's great to see so much budding musical talent of all ages and abilities from across the Whakatipu Basin. A lovely opportunity for youngsters to perform together and gain confidence on-stage. We look forward to seeing further community performances scheduled for Sunday and Monday at 9:30am - get tickets here! A lazy, rainy Saturday…

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About last night…
NZTrio perform with Jonathan Cohen, clarinet

About last night…

Whakatipu Music Festival opened with a bang last night! For a first-time festival, our opening reception hosted by Craig's Investment Partners was a roaring success. At 7pm, our first evening concert got into full swing! NZTrio performed on-stage with Jonathan Cohen, clarinet, to much fanfare from the audience. Our classical music lovers around the world also got a taste of Whakatipu Music Festival on our Facebook livestream. Thank you to RNZ Concert, The Violin Channel, and TomTom Productions for making…

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