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…

By reaching out to local schools, Whakatipu Music Festival hopes to inspire youngsters to step into music. Festival artists visited Remarkables Primary, Shotover Primary, Liger Leadership Academy, and Whakatipu High School to aid the flourishing of the arts in our community. See shots below!

So, we know that Whakatipu Music Festival musicians are in town. The festival kicks off on Friday. What must the artists be doing for those few days in between? Rehearsals and Community Outreach!   Thomas Brown Gallery played host to a teacher training talk followed by an open class led by professional artists. Community invitations to music teachers and students seeking to up their game and learn from the best gathered together a joyful crowd. Collaborative participation from all…

Last night, our Artists, Host Families, and Training Ground team arrived at Sir Michael Hill's Residence for a lovely welcome reception. With opulent art on display all around, artistic souls and musical spirits felt at home together in celebration of all the festival goodness still to come. Mixing and mingling as the excitement grew, beautiful platters of salmon and salads went down a treat with our hungry musicians! A wonderful introduction by Festival Director, Anne Rodda, gave way…

'Twas the first day of winter, when high above Queenstown A large jumbo jet brought a rumbling sound Of musicians aplenty, their instruments aboard; Snowy mountains grew closer, further they came towards.   The graceful runaway below, a fly-away stave; No more beautiful sight their vision ever gave, For the Whakatipu Music Festival, these artists arrive; An inaugural event filled with Kiwi classical music pride.   Whakatipu Music Festival's artists touched down at Queenstown Airport this afternoon. Met…