VC LIVE | New Zealand's 2022 Whakatipu Music Festival [STARTS FRIDAY LIVE]

 

This year's Whakatipu Music Festival will showcase extraordinary music from New Zealand's leading musicians, emerging artists, and local talent — including soprano Madeleine Pierard, violinist Robin Wilson, flutist Bridget Douglas, pianist Stephen de Pledge, and the Tararua Quartet.

"Born from a place of change, the festival is a COVID-19 adaptation," Event Executive Director Anne Rodda this week told The Violin Channel.

"It is a response from the Michael Hill International Violin Competition to the new environment in which we now work," she said. "Instead of presenting a series of concerts to a passive audience, this festival is authentically by, with, and for the community. It is, at its heart, a celebration of music."

 

 

 

FRIDAY APRIL 15 | 3:30 AM (ET)

WHAKATIPU MUSIC FESTIVAL | FESTIVAL OPENING CONCERT

QUEENSTOWN MEMORIAL CENTRE STAGE - QUEENSTOWN, NEW ZEALAND

 

The Tararua Quartet commences the weekend, performing evocative music combining taonga pūoro, waiata, karakia, and pūrākau (story) with the western instruments. Local professional musicians, Dale Gold Sandbox Quartet, share an eclectic mix of heavy metal, blues, top ten disco hit, country, and EDM.

 

FRIDAY APRIL 15 | 11:00 PM (ET)

WHAKATIPU MUSIC FESTIVAL | YOUNG ARTIST RECITALS

QUEENSTOWN MEMORIAL CENTRE STAGE - QUEENSTOWN, NEW ZEALAND

 

Six recitals from the next generation of New Zealand’s leading musical talent — featuring works by Chopin, Beethoven, Saint-Saëns, Schubert, Schumann, Donizetti, Strauss, Carter, and Paganini.

 

 

Pianist Shuan Liu 

• Chopin, Polonaise-fantasie in A-flat major, Op 61
• Gluck/Sgambati: Melody from Orfeo ed Euridice
• Medtner, Fairy Tales, Op 26, No 1 and 2
• Scriabin, Vers la Flamme

 

Violinist April Ju & pianist Jessica Chi

• Bach, Sonata No 1 in G minor, BWV 1001, Adagio and Fugue
• Beethoven, Romance in F major, Op 50
• Saint-Saëns, Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso in A minor, Op 28

 

Pianist Otis Prescott-Mason

• Schumann Arabeske in C major, Op 18
• Chopin Ballade No 2 in F major, Op 38
• Scriabin Sonata No 4 in F-sharp major, Op 30

 

Soprano Clare Hood & pianist Jessica Chi

• Donizetti, Chacun le sait (La fille du régiment)
• Vaughan Williams, The Vagabond and Let Beauty Awake from Songs of Travel
• Sibelius, Lasse liten and Flickan kom ifrån sin älsklings möte from Fem sånger, Op 27
• Rodrigo, Con qué la lavaré? and De los álamos vengo, madre from Cuatro madrigales amatorios
• R Strauss, Ständchen and Nur Mut! from 6 Lieder, Op 17
• Vaughan Williams, I Have Trod the Upward and the Downward Slope from Songs of Travel

 

Clarinetist Stefenie Pickston & pianist Shuan Liu

• Carter, Gra for Solo Clarinet
• Weber, Grand Duo Concertante, Op 48

 

Violinist Peter Gjelsten & pianist Otis Prescott-Mason

• Paganini, Caprice Op 1, No 23
• Ross Harris, Incantation (premiere)
• Mozart, Concerto for Violin in D major, No 4, K218, Allegro
• Saint-Saëns, Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso in A minor, Op 28

 

SATURDAY APRIL 16 | 3:30 AM (ET)

WHAKATIPU MUSIC FESTIVAL | FESTIVAL ARTISTS CONCERT

QUEENSTOWN MEMORIAL CENTRE STAGE - QUEENSTOWN, NEW ZEALAND

 

 

Robin Wilson (Violin), Andrew Joyce (Cello), Bridget Douglas (Flute), Madeleine Pierard (Soprano), and Stephen De Pledge (Piano)

• Haydn, Trio in D major, Hob XV:16
• Whitehead, Bougainvillea (World Premiere)
• Ravel, Chansons Madécassess (‘Madagascan Songs’), Nahandove, Aoua!, Il est doux
• Bartók (arr S De Pledge),Hungarian Peasant Dances
• Bartók, Romanian Folk Dances, Sz 56 Joc cu bâtǎ, Brâul, Pê-loc, Buciumeana, Poargǎ româneascǎ, Mǎrunţel
• Rachmaninoff (arr S De Pledge), Romances Op 4, Do Not Sing, My Beauty, Oh Thou, My Field

 

 

SATURDAY APRIL 16 | 11:00 PM (ET)

WHAKATIPU MUSIC FESTIVAL | YOUNG ARTIST RECITALS

QUEENSTOWN MEMORIAL CENTRE STAGE - QUEENSTOWN, NEW ZEALAND

 

Six beautifully crafted recitals from the next generation of New Zealand’s leading musical talent.

 

 

Violist Cecile McNeill & pianist Stephen De Pledge

• Vieuxtemps, Capriccio in C minor, Op 55, (Hommage à Paganini)
• Hindemith, Sonata for Solo Viola, Op 11 No 5, Lebhaft, aber nicht geeilt, Mäßig schnell, mit viel Wärme vorgetragen
• Enescu, Konzertstück for Viola and Piano
• Artley, An Anzac Reflection for Viola and Piano

 

Violinist KiHei Lee & pianist Shuan Liu

• Debussy, Violin Sonata in G minor, L140
• Whitehead, Torua
• Zarzycki, Mazurka No 1 in G major, Op 26

 

Pianist Jessica Chi

• Beethoven, Piano Sonata No 21 in C major, Op 53 (Waldstein), Allegro con brio
• Liszt – Hungarian Rhapsody No 10 in E major, S244/10
• Prokofiev, Vision Fugitives, Op 22, Andante and Feroce

 

Violinist Hazuki Katsukawa & pianist Stephen De Pledge

• Bach, Sonata No 2 in A minor, BWV1003, Grave and Allegro
• Messiaen, Theme and Variations
• Kreisler, Recitative and Scherzo, Op 6

 

Violist Zephyr Wills & pianist Otis Prescott-Mason

• Bach, Suite for Solo Cello No 3, Prelude
• Schumann, Märchenbilder (“Fairy Tales”) Op 113, Nicht schnell and Langsam, mit melancholischem Ausdruck
• Schubert, Arpeggione Sonata, Adagio
• Brahms, Sonata for Viola Op 120 in F minor, No 1, Allegretto grazioso and Vivace

 

Cellist Begonia Chan & pianist Stephen De Pledge

• Dvořák, Lasst mich allein
• Cassado, Suite for Cello Solo, Preludio-Fantasia
• Elgar, Salut d’amour
• Brahms, Cello Sonata No 2 in F major, Op 99, Allegro vivace
• Joplin (Arr. Förster), Original Rags

 

SUNDAY APRIL 17 | 3:30 AM (ET)

WHAKATIPU MUSIC FESTIVAL | YOUNG ARTISTS CHAMBER CONCERT

QUEENSTOWN MEMORIAL CENTRE STAGE - QUEENSTOWN, NEW ZEALAND

 

 

April Ju and Hazuki Katsukawa (Violin), Cecile McNeill (Viola), Andrew Joyce (Cello and coach) and Shuan Liu (Piano)

• Schumann, Piano Quintet in E-flat major, Op 44
• Allegro brillante
• In modo d’una marcia. Un poco largamente
• Scherzo: Molto vivace
• Allegro ma non troppo

 

Clare Hood (Soprano), Stefenie Pickson (Clarinet) and Jessica Chi (Piano)

• Schubert Shepherd on the Rock, D965

 

Kihei Lee and Peter Gjelsten (Violin), Zephyr Wills (Viola), Begonia Chan (Cello) and Otis Prescott-Mason (Piano)

• Dvořák Piano Quintet No 2 in A major, Op81, B155
• Allegro, ma non tanto
• Dumka: Andante con moto
• Scherzo (Furiant): Molto vivace
• Finale: Allegro

 

SUNDAY APRIL 17 | 8:00 PM (ET)

WHAKATIPU MUSIC FESTIVAL | GRAND FINALE

QUEENSTOWN MEMORIAL CENTRE STAGE - QUEENSTOWN, NEW ZEALAND

 

The Festival Artists come together again for the final Festival performance – sharing some of their personal favourites with the audience

 

 

Robin Wilson (Violin), Andrew Joyce (Cello), Bridget Douglas (Flute), Madeleine Pierard (Soprano) and Stephen De Pledge (Piano), Alastair Fraser (Taongo Pūoro).

• Massenet, Méditation from Thaïs
• Verdi, Tacea la Notte Placida, from Il Trovatore
• Whitehead, Hineraukatauri
• Saint-Saëns, Romances Op 36, Nos 36 and 51
• Bach, Seele, deine Spezereien, from Easter Cantata, BWV 247

All musicians involved in the festival come together to perform a work specifically written for the festival by the talented Kiwi composer Lucy Mulgan.

Colour in Twilight is a celebration of autumn in Central Otago- written especially for this festival and our April performance to mirror the surroundings.