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Orchestra Wellington / May 2013

With a rich history as New Zealand’s oldest regional orchestra founded over seventy years ago, Orchestra Wellington’s audience numbers have grown rapidly to become one of the most consistently well attended in the country. With progressive programmes, accessible pricing, and a focus on community outreach, Orchestra Wellington is now recognised as one of the most exciting and progressive orchestras in the world.

July 2013 | April 2013
    • Night Creature
      • George Gershwin:   An American in Paris Leonard Bernstein: Three Meditations from “Mass” Karlo Margetic:        Music for Wind, Brass and Percussion Duke Ellington:        Night Creature   Andrew Joyce, cello Marc Taddei, music director   Sunday, 26 May 4pm Wellington Town Hall Pre-concert talk 3pm   "Night creatures, unlike stars, do not come out at night - they come on, each thinking that before the night is out he or she will be the star”. – Duke Ellington The first half of the twentieth century saw America on the ascendant, and its music reflected this confident new society with bold new styles that strutted and swung.  For their first subscription concert, Night Creature, the orchestra presents works by Gershwin, Ellington and Bernstein that embrace the exciting new rhythms and harmonies of America. Orchestra Wellington music director Marc Taddei says he is fascinated by the way great classical composers are inspired by the popular music of their day. Most familiar perhaps is Gershwin’s An American in Paris. It’s 1928, the close of the Gilded Age, and for Americans, anything seems possible. Gershwin visits Paris to experience more of a culture he enjoyed. If there are some bluesy moments reflecting Gershwin’s longing for home, overall this piece is a sparkling tribute from a great cosmopolitan to the bustling metropolis he admired. Leonard Bernstein’s Mass was a child of its time too: 1971 and anything goes! These short meditations for solo cello and orchestra are extracted from a much larger Mass whose vast theatrical conception embraced everything from rock and gospel to Lutheran chorales and atonal expressionism. The full Mass, requiring three choirs, rock and military bands, has been vilified in some quarters and hailed as a masterpiece in others. But there is no question about the power and beauty of these short Meditations drawn from it. The Orchestra is proud to welcome NZSO Principal Cello Andrew Joyce as soloist. Joyce is a recent addition to the New Zealand’s concert stages, following on from a busy career as an orchestral, solo and chamber music player on the London scene. Duke Ellington’s Night Creature, from 1955, takes a bold new direction in form and orchestration. It is a kind of three-movement concerto grosso, with a core group comprised of a saxophone quartet and jazz rhythm section forming a ‘concertino’ within the orchestra. Our own New Zealand voice is explored by Orchestra Wellington’s Emerging Composer in Residence, Karlo Margetic, in his Music for Wind, Brass and Percussion.
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