A Fantastic Weekend of Music-Making at the 2026 ChamberLab!
- New Zealand String Quartet
- Jun 10
- 2 min read
Across the 2026 King's Birthday weekend the NZ School of Music - Te Kōkī Kelburn campus resounded with the sound of 34 bright young chamber musicians. Let's look back on some of the highlights of the weekend.
The NZSQ ChamberLab @ Te Kōkī (previously known as the King's Birthday Weekend Chamber Music Intensive) is an annual long weekend of chamber music making and coaching for secondary school ensembles. It's a great way for aspiring musicians to get an immersive taste of what its like to study classical performance at NZSM, plus many groups used the weekend to work on their repertoire ahead of competing in the district rounds of the NZCT Chamber Music New Zealand Chamber Music Contest.
The 2026 ChamberLab brought together 34 students in nine ensembles - two of which had travelled from Hawke's Bay and Auckland for the weekend. Each student spent eight hours playing together and receiving coaching from a range of our eight tutors, plus participating or observing a masterclass each afternoon. Thanks to Orchestra Wellington, the students were able to take a field trip to the Michael Fowler Centre to see a few of their ChamberLab tutors perform in OW's concert. They then rounded the weekend off by performing to a packed Adam Concert Room in the ChamberLab Finale Concert.
The improvement and dedication shown by our 2026 ChamberLab students was inspiring. For the entire weekend the NZSM campus was filled with laughter, experimentation and wonderful music-making. The future of chamber music in Aotearoa is bright! See you again soon at the 2027 ChamberLab.
Applications for the 2027 ChamberLab will open in March 2027. If you'd like to be notified right when applications open then please get in touch with the NZSQ team: events@nzsq.org.nz
If you'd like to attend the ChamberLab Finale Concert to experience the magic for yourself, then save the date: Monday 7 June 2027 at 2pm. More information will be posted on the NZSQ website closer to the time so make sure to check back in May 2027.
Thank you to our partners & supporters:
If you would like to support young New Zealand musicians, then please consider making a donation to the New Zealand String Quartet Trust.
The NZSQ Trust is committed to chamber music education and fostering the next generation of New Zealand musicians through a range of initiatives. Every cent donated supports this work and resonates throughout the careers of New Zealand musicians.
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