Review: Composer Connections review

Brenda Harwood, The Star    /    Dunedin

The recent Composer Connections season for Chamber Music New Zealand took us to Wellington, Hamilton, Invercargill and Dunedin as part of a shared tour with NZTrio and the New Zealand Chamber Soloists. The three programmes were curated by New Zealand composers who placed music that deeply influenced them alongside their own compositions. In Wellington, our first concert featured the world premiere of Ross Harris’s Piano Quintet.

Brenda Harwood from The Star reviewed our Dunedin concert, describing it as a “highly entertaining concert” that “showcased the versatility and strength of the New Zealand String Quartet”.

“Old and new rubbed shoulders in an intriguing programme, selected by New Zealand composer Ross Harris for the New Zealand String Quartet as part of Chamber Music NZ's Composer Connections series.

The concert opened with New Zealand pianist Stephen De Pledge, who joined the NZSQ on this tour, "cleansing the palate" with a beautifully presented selection from Bach's Goldberg variations..."