Gizmo_RA2

 Location Saturday, 2nd September, 2.30pm.Old Library Building Arts Centre7 Rust Avenue, Whangarei Overview     Debuting for the first time in 2023, the Akarana Piano Quartet has been formed by award-winning musicians Andrew Beer, violin, and Sarah Watkins, piano (Best Classical Artist 2020, NZ Music Awards), joined by two outstanding colleagues from the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra—principal … Read more

Location Saturday 7.00 pm, 22nd July, 2023Old Library Building Arts Centre7 Rust Avenue, Whangarei Overview Audiences can expect to hear a harmonious mix of contemporary takes on jazz standards and original melodies, and refreshed rearrangements of classics such as 1930s show tune Star Eyes and Dizzy Gillespie’s Groovin’ High. Some of Aotearoa’s best known and … Read more

Location Saturday 7.00 pm, 27th May,2023Old Library Building Arts Centre7 Rust Avenue, Whangarei Overview Double Shot provide a colourful mixture of percussion instruments based around marimba and vibraphone. Playful contemporary pieces include Steve Reich, and John Psathas, alongside an arrangement of Debussy’s ‘La boîte à joujoux’. The duo’s strength lies in the wonderfully variety of … Read more

Location Saturday 2.30pm, 15th April, 2023Old Library Building Arts Centre7 Rust Avenue, Whangarei Overview Les Voisins take us on an intriguing journey through French music from the court of Louis XIV to the 1930s jazz world of the Hot Club de France through a wide ranging programme. Featured is New Zealand’s composer, Alex Taylor’s response … Read more

Location Saturday 2.30pm, 15th October 2022Old Library Building Arts Centre7 Rust Avenue, Whangarei Overview The Orion Piano Trio chose their name after the constellation of Orion, one of the few stars that is recognisable in the night sky, and is visible from both hemispheres. They wanted to symbolise the combined musical experience and passion cultivated … Read more

OVERVIEW The Noveltones are an improvising chamber jazz quartet based in Wellington, featuring the unexpected instrumentation of violin, soprano saxophone, bass clarinet and double bass. With a sound that is melodious, beguiling and sometimes startling, the Noveltones fuse spontaneous improvisation with the lush sonorities of chamber music. The balance of carefully designed sonic architecture and … Read more

OVERVIEW Vieux Amis (“Old Friends”) reunites three friends, neighbours and long-standing colleagues, to perform together for the first time in over 20 years. Violinist, Justine Cormack, cellist, James Bush, and pianist, Sarah Watkins, three of New Zealand’s most accomplished musicians, have newly formed the trio, Vieux Amis. The trio members all grew up together in … Read more

Stephen de Pledge, a New Zealand pianist, has been described as one of the most exciting and versatile musicians of his generation, and as being “a pianist of exemplary taste and chutzpah”, after his performance as soloist with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra at their September Auckland concert ( NZ Herald 24/09/2020). The Whangarei Music … Read more

Purchase Tickets OVERVIEW Trio Élan is an electrifying new ensemble made up of three of New Zealand’s leading chamber musicians: violinist Donald Armstrong, saxophonist Simon Brew and pianist Sarah Watkins. Featuring this unique blend of instruments, classical music fans maybe sceptical of the place of the saxophone in chamber music. But it works. In a … Read more