RNZB's 2023 production of Romeo & Juliet Photo: Ross Brown
Hamish McKeich Photo: Tracy Valarie
When it comes to sending conductors 'down into the pit', few maestros in Aotearoa cope better with the demands of leading an orchestra and coordinating with a stage or screen event than Hamish McKeich.
Hamish is conducting the Royal New Zealand Ballet's latest production, Romeo & Juliet, which opens on 4 May.
He says there are particular things to take into consideration when conducting opera, live movie soundtrack performances and ballet. It's always a collaborative process, which he enjoys.
"The collaborative way of conducting these days is really, really important and I love it with opera, ballet - and orchestral music as well. It's collaborative in that you're dealing with a hundred players, very trained. You've got to respect that."
"The age of the autocratic conductor is well and truly dead. And that's a good thing."
Hamish also talks with Bryan Crump about his recovery from a stroke and how he's adapted his conducting.
RNZB’s Romeo & Juliet
4 May – 10 June 2023
Wellington, Auckland Dunedin, Christchurch, Palmerston North, Napier
