Audiences in Wellington will continue to have a taste of something different, as the highly successful Shed Series resumes this week.
NZSO performing at Shed 6 Photo: Twitter - NZSO
The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra introduced the relaxed performances last year with three concerts spanning John Zorn, Jonny Greenwood and Frank Zappa combined with interesting classical repertoire.
This year, New Zealand works feature too, something Shed Series curator and conductor Hamish McKeich was keen to do.
Conductor Hamish McKeich Photo: RNZ/Kirsten Johnstone
Rebirth features Jack Body’s ‘Fanfare for Bert’, combined with Bach’s ‘Violin Partita’ and Ellington’s ‘Black, Brown and Beige Suite’. A theme of jazz threads through the performance.
Leonie Holmes, Eve de Castro-Robinson and the world première of a new piece arranged by John Psathas feature in 2019.
Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood Photo: wikicommons
Jonny Greenwood – Radiohead’s lead guitarist – returns with the New Zealand première of his work ‘48 responses to Polymorphia’ in May.
John Adams’ ‘Chamber Symphony’ will take centre stage in August, which McKeich describes as something out of a cartoon show.
The Shed Series season wraps up with Grammy and Pulitzer Prize winning composer John Luther Adams’ ‘Become River’, which is described as a meditative piece inspired by nature. That will be accompanied by Ellington’s take on the 'Nutcracker Suite’, referencing the first performance in the series.
