Voices at the End – Show Programme, Auckland Arts Festival 2021

Voices at the End JOHN PSATHAS / STEVE REICH

GREAT HALL, AUCKLAND TOWN HALL

18 March 2021

TĒNĀ KOUTOU

If you’re reading this in the Auckland Town Hall just before the lights go down and Steve Reich’s mesmerising Six Pianos begins... we made it! Welcome to Voices at the End at Auckland Arts Festival 2021.

Six grand pianos, six amazing musicians, this beautiful hall, and an incredible sound system. How fortunate we are.

Any moment now Stephen De Pledge, Michael Houstoun, Somi Kim, Jian Liu, Sarah Watkins and Liam Wooding will take to the stage and deliver what for many of us will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

The need has never been greater for the human race to think of ourselves as one inter-connected species, and to think of our one-and-only planet as a single home for all. The extraordinary film Planetary made this point so powerfully, it inspired Voices at the End. The relentless advance of technology has propelled music into an arena where any sounds – no matter how disparate their origins – can be brought together to produce potent new sensations and meanings. The fusing of intense live performance with the recorded sounds (beautiful and terrifying) of human

civilisation and the natural world, gives rise to a new kind of musical narrative.

In Voices at the End, stories from one of our most profound creation myths (the Mahabharata) appear alongside the famous message-from-humanityto-the-cosmos on Voyager 1’s Golden Record (now travelling in interstellar space and still going strong). A heartrending Armenian song of unrequited love precedes the sounds of two beating hearts: that of a mother-to-be and the child within. Hundreds of hysterically angry individuals have been blended into a ‘choir of rage’, heard in counterpoint with the most dangerous predators from the animal kingdom. These and more are the fabric into which the story of Voices at the End is woven.

My heartfelt thanks to the six superb pianists, Graham Kennedy on sound, and the entire Auckland Arts Festival team (particularly Shona McCullagh, Steph Walker and Nick Tomlin) for making tonight’s incredible performance a reality. I hope you enjoy the show.

John Psathas Composer onzm, arts foundation laureate

Artwork (opposite) from Steve Reich / Terry Riley Six Pianos / Keyboard Study #1 album cover.

PROGRAMME

Six Pianos Composed by Steve Reich ca 16–24mins

Voices at the End Composed by John Psathas 40 mins

Piano Stephen De Pledge Michael Houstoun Somi Kim Jian Liu Sarah Watkins Liam Wooding Sound Graham Kennedy

WITH SUPPORT FROM Platinum Patrons Kent & Gaye Gardner

Producer Steph Walker Head of AV Simon Barker Venue Manager Danny Hones Audio Systems Nils Melchert & Ratu Gordon, Western Audio Piano Tuning Glenn Easley, Global Piano Services

Six Pianos

First performed 16 May 1973 at John Weber Gallery, New York by Steve Reich and musicians.

Six Pianos (1973) grew out of the idea I had to do a piece for all the pianos in a piano store*. The piece which actually resulted is a bit more modest in scope since too many pianos (especially if they are large grands) can begin to sound thick and unmanageable. Using six smaller grands made it possible to play the fast, rhythmically intricate kind of music I am drawn to while at the same time allowing the players to be physically close together so as to hear each other clearly.

The piece begins with four pianists all playing the same eight-beat rhythmic pattern, but with different notes. The other two pianists then begin in unison to gradually build up the exact pattern of one of the pianists already playing by putting the notes of his fifth eighthnote on the seventh eighth-note of their measure, then his first on their third, and so on until they have constructed the same pattern with the same notes, but two eighth-notes out of phase. This is the same process of substituting beats for rests as appears for the first time in Drumming, but here, instead of the process happening by itself, it happens against another performer (or performers) already playing that pattern in another rhythmic position. The end result is that of a pattern played against itself but one or more beats out of phase. Though this result is similar to many older pieces of mine, the process of arriving at that result

is new. Instead of slow shifts of phase, there is a percussive build up of beats in place of rests. The use of the pianos here is more like sets of tuned drums.

When these phase relationships have been fully constructed, one or two other pianists then double some of the many melodic patterns resulting from this four or five piano relationship. By gradually increasing the volume of these resulting patterns they bring them to the surface of the music, and by gradually fading out enable the listener to hear these patterns, and hopefully many others, pre-existing in the ongoing four or five piano relationship. The decisions as to which resulting patterns were most musical, and what their order would be, were made by James Preiss, Steve Chambers and myself during rehearsals.

This process of rhythmic construction followed by doubling the resulting patterns is then continued in three sections marked off by changes in mode, key and gradually higher position on the keyboard, the first being in D major, the second in E dorian, and the third in B natural minor.

Steve Reich Composer

*The Baldwin Piano & Organ Company, through their artists’ representative Mr Jack Romann, made it possible for me to realise this idea during rehearsals in 1972–73 in their store in New York City.

Voices at the End

Voices at the End was originally inspired by the film Planetary (2015). In this film, author and environmental activist Joanna Macy suggested there are three stories that we have to choose from, to make sense of our lives now, to make sense of our world. The first story that we could see and accept as reality is Business as Usual. All we need to do is keep growing our economy. We could call that the industrial growth society.

But there’s a second story which is seen and accepted as the reality by the scientists and the activists. These are the people who lift back the carpet and look under the rug of Business as Usual and see what it’s costing us. And it’s costing us the world. We call that story The Great Unravelling. Unravelling is what biological and ecological and organic systems do as diversity is lost. They shred.

That’s not the end of the story though, because there’s a third narrative, another lens through which we can choose to see.

And that is that a revolution is taking place.

A transition. From the industrial growth society to a life sustaining society. And it’s taking many forms – this third story, The Great Turning. It’s our story of survival and it’s got huge evolutionary pressures behind it. After all, the story of evolution is everybody’s autobiography.

These three stories – Business as Usual, The Great Unravelling and The Great Turning – form the three parts of Voices at the End.

A concerto for six pianos

Prologue Honey Part 1 Business as Usual Part 2 The Great Unravelling Part 3 The Great Turning Epilogue Chrysalis

Prologue – Honey The Toltecs had an idea of the human mind as a fog (a Mitote), a dream where a thousand people talk at the same time, and nobody understands each other. The prologue begins by evoking this state.

Mitote (0.00)

Inspired by this excerpt from ‘The Four Agreements’ by Don Miguel Ruiz.

We live in a fog that is not even real.

This fog is a dream, your personal dream of life – what you believe, all the concepts you have about what you are, all the agreements you have made with others, with yourself, even with God. Your whole mind is a fog which the Toltecs called a Mitote.

Your mind is a dream where a thousand people talk at the same time, and nobody understands each other.

This is the condition of the human mind – a big mitote, and with that big mitote you cannot see what you really are.

Honey (5.05)

The prologue ends with a reading from the Mahabharata, the text beautifully rendered by Jean-Claude Carriere, and spoken by Sotigui Kouyaté. a man is walking in a dark dangerous forest filled with wild beasts the forest is surrounded by a vast net the man is afraid, he runs to escape from the beasts he falls into a pitch black hole by a miracle he is caught in some twisted roots he feels the hot breath of an enormous snake with its jaws wide open lying at the bottom of the pit he’s about to fall into these jaws on the edge of the hole a huge elephant is preparing to crush him black and white mice gnaw the roots from which the man is hanging dangerous bees fly over the hole letting fall drops of honey then, the man holds out his finger slowly, cautiously he holds out his finger to catch the drops of honey threatened by so many dangers with hardly a breath between him and so many deaths he still isn’t free from desire the thought of honey holds him to life.

Part 1 – Business as Usual

(with Joe Callwood – acoustic guitar)

From Planetary...

“There are three stories that we have to choose from, to make sense of our lives now, to make sense of our world.

The first story is; Business As Usual.

All we need to do is grow our economy.

I call that the industrial growth society.”

Predator (0.33)

Insatiable, voracious, predatory behaviour driving our world.

Bomber (2.22)

The explosions in this section are real recordings of bombs being dropped and of people destroying themselves and others. Among other things, this reflects on the way violence is mediated now, that it has been thoroughly normalised through the entertainment industry. That the audio-visual mode has become our primary way of coming into contact with the world and at the same time being detached and safe from it. And that technology is all too often acting as a workstation in the mass production-line of fear.

Blind I/Eye (3.24)

This music, that might accompany a dancing bear, is evoking a wilful blindness, a kind of “party at the end of the world.”

Precipice (4.04)

Here, music becomes a runaway train, reaching a peak of intensity, a precipice, with embedded recordings of (a thousand) voices of wildly angry people painstakingly and painfully downloaded from YouTube. At this point point the piece explodes into…

Chaos (6.46)

The collapse of order. Leading to a horrific kind of…

Hegemony (8.00)

Emerging from this chaos is the depiction of a complete loss of diversity, in which all are chanting (and in this case playing) exactly the same thing at exactly the same time.

Part 2 – The Great Unravelling

(featuring Briar Prastiti – Voice)

From Planetary...

“But there’s another story which is seen and accepted as the reality by the scientists, the activists.

Who lift back the carpet look under the rug of the Business As Usual and see what it’s costing us.

It’s costing us the world.

We call that story The Great Unravelling.

Unravelling is what biological and ecological and organic systems do as diversity is lost. They shred.”

Matilde’s Girls (0.00) Yarko Parag (Armenian song) Gyankit arevit madagh – A sacrifice to the sun of your life Gananch darevit madagh – A sacrifice to your green leaves Yar ko parag boy mernem – My love, let me die in your slim shape Che tud aseyin key g’arnem – Even if they say No, I want to take you Yerek dari miyan al – three years we got closer Kez vra sovorel em – i learned who you are Yar ko parag boy mernem – My love, let me die in your slim shape Che tud aseyin key g’arnem – Even if they say No, I want to take you Namakov hishele indz – She remembered me in a letter Prnadz parevit madagh – A sacrifice to the greeting you sent Yar ko parag boy mernem – My love, let me die in your slim shape Che tud aseyin kez g’arnem – Even if they say No, I want to take you Namakov hishele indz – She remembered me in a letter Kez vra sovorel em – I studied that letter over and over Yar ko parag boy mernem – My love, let me die in your slim shape Che tud aseyin kez g’arnem – Even if they say No, I want to take you

Now 1: Living in an Ecosystem of Interruption Technologies (4.39) Now 2: The Planet Turns [Its] Back (6.25) 10,000 Years From Now: The World Without Us (8.41) Kenopsia – The eerie, forlorn atmosphere of a place that is usually bustling with people but is now abandoned and quiet.

Part 3 – The Great Turning

(featuring Renkei Hashimoto – Shakuhachi)

From Planetary...

“That’s not the end of the story though, because there’s another narrative another lens through which we can choose to see.

And that is that a revolution is taking place. A transition.

From the industrial growth society to a life sustaining society.

And it’s taking many forms, this third story, The Great Turning.

It’s got huge evolutionary pressures behind it.

And the story of evolution is everybody’s autobiography.”

Ichi-Go Ichi-E (0.00)

“One time, one meeting” – a Japanese four-character idiom that describes the concept of treasuring meetings with people. Often translated as “for this time only,” “never again,” or “one chance in a lifetime.” The term reminds people to cherish any gathering that they may take part in, emphasising the idea that many meetings in life are not repeated. Even when the same group of people can get together again, a particular gathering will never be replicated and thus, each moment is always once-in-a-lifetime.

Presence (2.40)

Shifts from the complete recognition of another’s presence – the relationship of oneself to another (expressed through the sound of heartbeats) – to the awareness of the connection of oneself to the cosmos. This part ends with the recording made by the Voyager probe. Although space is a virtual vacuum this does not mean there is no sound in space. Sound does exist as electromagnetic vibrations. The specially designed instruments on-board the voyager picked up and recorded these vibrations. This actual recording from space is what you’ll be hearing at the end of this movement* as the greeting on behalf of the people of this planet, from Kurt Waldheim – then-secretary general of the United Nations – floats in and out.

Look Up (3.32) Constellation (5.00) Black Box (5.53)

From the NASA Voyager Golden Record.

“As the Secretary General of the United Nations An organisation of 147 member states who represent almost all of the human inabitants of the planet earth I send greetings on behalf of the people of our planet.

We step out of our solar system into the universe seeking only peace and friendship.

To teach if we are called upon, to be taught if we are fortunate.

We know full well that our planet and all its inhabitants are but a small part of this immense universe that surrounds us and it is with humility and hope that we take this step” From Planetary...

“The question is not, do we need a new story, but do we need a new way of telling our story?”

Epilogue – Chrysalis

(with Joe Callwood – acoustic guitar)

Celebrating the acceptance of diversity and cultures of compassion, while conjuring powerful and positive forms of socialised energy (in the composer’s opinion the only attitudes that provide any real hope of a way forward).

From Planetary...

“Part of making the transition into our future is to begin planting the seeds of a new story.

The kind of intelligence we need is not data, but narrative.

How do we put these disparate pieces together in a structure that has direction, momentum, promise?”

The title Voices at the End draws attention to each movement ending with voice or voices. In the prologue, it is the Mahabharata; in Business as Usual, massed crowds chanting in unison. In The Great Unravelling it is the voice of the natural world reasserting itself after we are gone, and in The Great Turning it is the voice of humanity’s interstellar message being taken further and further into deep space. Finally, in the epilogue, it is the distant voices of children playing.

Our deepest thanks to Adrian Durham without whose generous support this project would not have been possible. Thanks also to Victoria University of Wellington for providing John Psathas with both research leave and research funding. And thanks to Aldeburgh Music for enabling Piano Circus and John to collaborate on the first realisation and sharing of Voices at the End at Snape Maltings in February 2018.

Thanks also to Jean-Claude Carriere who generously gave us permission to use the Honey excerpt from the Mahabharata in our performance. And thanks to Serj Tankian and Aren Emirze for their help with the lyrics of Yarko Parag. Thanks also to Lesley and Michael Shanahan for providing an invaluable composer’s haven during the creation of the music. And thanks to Dawn Hardwick for sparking the idea and being there for the entire journey.

The brilliant sound design, sound effects, vocal textures and percussion energising are by David Downes.

Joe Callwood and Briar Prastiti were recorded by Lee Prebble at Surgery Studios, Wellington, New Zealand.

Renkei Hashimoto was recorded by George Kariotis in Paris, France.

*Strictly speaking, the plasma wave instrument does not detect sound. Instead it senses waves of electrons in the ionized gas or ‘plasma’ that Voyager travels through. No human ear could hear these plasma waves. Nevertheless, because they occur at audio frequencies, between a few hundred and a few thousand hertz, we can play the data through a loudspeaker and listen. The pitch and frequency tell us about the density of gas surrounding the spacecraft.

COMPOSERS

John Psathas

Steve Reich

From genre-crossing projects with jazz legends Michael Brecker and Joshua Redman, to an innovative e-book scoring collaboration with Salman Rushdie, from an unforgettable recording session with the Grand Mufti in Paris’s Grand Mosque, to a Billboard classical-chart-topping album with System of a Down’s Serj Tankian, John Psathas’ musical journey weaves through myriad genres and has moved concert audiences in more than 50 countries.

Steve Reich has been called “America’s greatest living composer” (Village Voice), “the most original musical thinker of our time” (The New Yorker) and “among the great composers of the century” (The New York Times). His music has influenced composers and mainstream musicians all over the world.

Music for 18 Musicians and Different Trains have earned him two Grammy Awards, and in 2009, his Double Sextet won the Pulitzer Prize. Reich’s documentary video opera works – The Cave and Three Tales, done in collaboration with video artist Beryl Korot – have been performed on four continents. His recent work Quartet, for percussionist Colin Currie, sold out two consecutive concerts at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London shortly after tens of thousands at the Glastonbury Festival heard Jonny Greenwood (of Radiohead) perform Electric Counterpoint followed by the London Sinfonietta performing his Music for 18 Musicians.

Psathas’ early career collaborations included working with such luminaries as Sir Mark Elder, Kristjan Jarvi, the Takacs Quartet, Lara St. John, the Netherlands Blazers Ensemble, Dame Evelyn Glennie, Edo de Wart, Joanna MacGregor, Pedro Carneiro, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and many more. Then followed a period of intense creative exploration in the worlds of electronica and jazz, and a series of mega-projects (such as composing for the opening ceremony of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games).

The works of this Greek New Zealand composer now emerge from a dazzling 21st-century backdrop, where dynamic collaboration with creative masters from all corners of the globe results in outcomes that are visionary, moving and inspired. Psathas’ music has achieved a level of international success unprecedented in New Zealand history, and he is now considered one of the three most important living composers of the Greek Diaspora.

In 2012, Reich was awarded the Gold Medal in Music by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He has additionally received the Praemium Imperiale in Tokyo, the Polar Music Prize in Stockholm, the BBVA Award in Madrid and recently the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale. He has been named Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and has been awarded honorary doctorates by the Royal College of Music in London, the Juilliard School, the Liszt Academy in Budapest and the New England Conservatory of Music, among others. “There’s just a handful of living composers who can legitimately claim to have altered the direction of musical history and Steve Reich is one of them,” states The Guardian.

Biography reprinted by kind permission of Boosey & Hawkes.

PIANISTS

Stephen De Pledge

Michael Houstoun

New Zealand pianist Stephen De Pledge is one of the most exciting and versatile musicians of his generation. He studied at the University of Auckland, and then with Joan Havill at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. His career was launched after winning the Gold Medal from the Guildhall, and the NFMS Young Concert Artists’ Award, and he has since maintained a diverse and wide-ranging performing schedule, as soloist, chamber musician and song accompanist.

Michael Houstoun was born in Timaru, New Zealand in October 1952. He began piano lessons at the age of five and under the guidance of Sr Mary Eulalie and subsequently Maurice Till he moved through the grades of the Trinity College of London examination system (ATCL 96%, LTCL 97%).

At the same time he won all the major piano competitions in New Zealand and began playing with orchestras.

De Pledge’s solo performances have taken him throughout the UK, including five solo recitals in the Wigmore Hall in London, where he made his acclaimed debut in 1999. He has also given solo performances in Hong Kong, Italy, France, Singapore, Japan, Australia and the USA. Concerto appearances include the Philharmonia (London) and Bournemouth Symphony Orchestras, and performances in the Barbican and Fairfield Halls. He has recorded solo works of Bliss, Messiaen and Arvo Pärt, for whom he made the world premiere recording of the piano sonatinas.

He also made the premiere recording of Górecki’s Four Preludes for piano.

As a chamber musician, De Pledge has collaborated with groups such as Chamber Domaine, the Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet, the English Chamber Orchestra Ensemble and the Scottish Ensemble. Recent chamber music performances have been in New York, Dresden, Bogotà, Shanghai, Paris and Beijing, and he has performed at many International Festivals in the UK and abroad.

De Pledge’s repertoire is far-reaching, from the music of the 17th to the 21st centuries. He has always been an advocate for contemporary music, and has given the world premiere performances of many works. In 2001 he performed the complete chamber works of Arvo Pärt during the Edinburgh Festival, under the guidance of the composer, and he has become particularly associated with the music of Messiaen, which he studied in Paris with the composer’s widow, Yvonne Loriod. In 2008 he gave the first performance of the ‘Landscape Preludes’, 12 new works by New Zealand composers, at the International Festival in Wellington.

In addition to his solo recording De Pledge’s recordings for Sanctuary Classics, ASV, Quartz and Landor labels include song cycles by Ned Rorem and Samuel Barber, and chamber music of Messiaen, Shostakovich, Schnittke and Pärt. He has broadcast for Radio 3 and Classic FM in the UK, and also on radio in USA, Australia, New Zealand and Sweden, and for BBC Television.

In 1973 at the age of 20 he entered and placed third in the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. This led to a year of study with Rudolf Serkin at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. In 1975 he placed fourth in the Leeds International Piano Competition and then in 1982, sixth in the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition.

After living overseas for six years – including a valuable period of study with Brigitte Wild in London – he returned home in 1981 where he has enjoyed his life as something of an ‘Artist in ResideNZ’, performing recitals, concertos and chamber music all over the country year in year out. Most years he performs one or two new programmes and consequently has built a very large repertoire spanning from Bach to the present day.

Included are many compositions by New Zealand composers and quite a few commissions.

Houstoun has twice presented the complete Beethoven sonatas in seven-concert cycles. More recently he has performed the 48 Preludes and Fugues of Bach’s Welltempered Clavier in two concert events. Since 1999 he has recorded for Rattle Records with five of his albums winning Classical Record of the Year awards.

Houstoun has honorary degrees from Massey and Victoria universities, is a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit and a Laureate of the Arts Foundation of New Zealand. He is Advocate of Chamber Music New Zealand, and Patron of The New Zealand Institute of Registered Music Teachers, the New Zealand Music Examinations Board, the Kerikeri International Piano Competition and the Nelson School of Music.

PIANISTS

Somi Kim

Jian Liu

South Korean-born New Zealand pianist Somi Kim has established herself as one of today’s most highly regarded and versatile young pianists, with a string of competition successes and an extensive concert experience. An Associate of the Royal Academy of Music, Kim graduated with an Advanced Diploma in Performance and Master of Arts with Distinction, receiving the HRH Princess Alice the Duchess of Gloucester’s Prize, a DipRAM and the Christian Carpenter Prize for the Best Recital. She is the 2017 winner of the Royal Over-Seas League Accompanist Prize, and has received the Gerald Moore Award for Accompanists, AESS Patricia Routledge National English Song Accompanist Prize, Mozart Singing Competition Accompanist Prize, Bromsgrove International Musicians Competition Accompanist Prize, Vivian Langrish Memorial Trust Prize, Thomas Art of Song Accompanist Prize, Major van Someron-Godfery Prize for Accompanists, WCOM Concordia Serena Nevill and Barthel Prizes, and the 6th Pettman/Royal Over-Seas League Arts International Scholarship. She made her debut with Chamber Music New Zealand in 2015.

Internationally celebrated concert pianist, chamber musician, and educator, Dr Jian Liu studied with Professor Jin Zhang from Central Conservatory in Beijing for six years, then with Dr Caio Pagano at Arizona State University for eight years.

He holds Master of Music, Doctor and Master of Musical Arts degrees from Yale School of Music, where he was a student and assistant of Professor Claude Frank.

Sought after as a chamber musician, song accompanist and répétiteur, Kim is an artist for the Kirckman Concert Society, Park Lane Group, Concordia Foundation and is a Yeoman of the Worshipful Company of Musicians. She is a scholar on the Britten-Pears and Samling Artist Programmes, Georg Solti Accademia, and is a staff pianist at the International Holland Music Sessions, International Vocal Competition ’s-Hertogenbosch, Gisborne International Music Competition and the New Zealand Opera School.

Kim is the official pianist with NZTrio – a piano trio that is recognised as a “national treasure” and as “New Zealand’s most indispensable ensemble.” In recital, her recent and future appearances include Het Concertgebouw, Slovak Philharmonic, Wigmore Hall, St. John’s Smith Square, Cadogan Hall, and the Edinburgh Fringe and Oxford Lieder Festivals. She will make her debut with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra in June, playing Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F.

He has won major prizes (Horowitz and Missouri Southern international competitions) and has performed at many renowned festivals (New Zealand, USA, China, Switzerland and Poland). He has adjudicated for several international music competitions, and his performances have been broadcast by various TV and radio stations throughout the world.

His artistry has taken him to some of the world’s most prestigious concert halls (Carnegie, Lincoln Center, Steinway, Yale and Julliard) where he has performed with equally prestigious orchestras (Symphony Orchestra of National Philharmonic Society of Ukraine, Phoenix Symphony Orchestra, Yale Philharmonia and many others).

Liu is deeply committed to education, and has performed and taught throughout Europe, Asia and North America. He has taught master classes and lectures at many universities throughout the world, served on the faculty of the Yale Department of Music, and currently serves as Programme Director of Classical Performance and Head of Piano Studies at New Zealand School of Music (Victoria University of Wellington).

As a dedicated and enthusiastic chamber musician, Liu is the founding pianist of Te Kōkī Trio, the resident trio at New Zealand School of Music, and the trio has appeared at chamber music events in Singapore, China, Australia and New Zealand.

Sarah Watkins

Liam Wooding

Dr Sarah Watkins is a founding member of NZTrio, a group widely recognised as one of New Zealand’s most dynamic and indispensable music ensembles, bringing bold and eclectic performances to audiences around the world.

Originally from Whanganui, New Zealand, Liam Wooding is a pianist based in Melbourne, Australia. Performing and commissioning New Zealand music is central to his musical practice.

Her lifelong passion for accompanying and chamber music has led to an impressive career in the USA and New Zealand, where she is highly sought after as a collaborative pianist, recording artist, and ensemble musician. She has been an official pianist for the Michael Hill International Violin Competition since its inception in 2001; has performed as a freelance player in the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra and the Auckland Chamber Orchestra; and has appeared as concerto soloist with St Matthew’s Chamber Orchestra, ACO and the APO. In 2014 she recorded Chris Watson’s sing songs self for solo piano and orchestra with the NZSO, a composition which was awarded the prestigious 2015 SOUNZ Contemporary Award.

Watkins is a graduate of the University of Canterbury (NZ) and the Juilliard School in New York City, where she earned both Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in collaborative piano. While living in the USA, she worked as a staff pianist at Juilliard, Yale University and the Aspen Music Festival. Among her academic highlights was her work as coordinator of the collaborative piano program at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California, and several years on the music faculty of Purchase College, New York. During the period 2004–09, NZTrio was ensemble in residence at the University of Auckland, where Watt also taught collaborative piano and chamber music.

As a chamber musician, he has participated in courses and residencies at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity (Canada), Skidmore College (USA) and Four Winds (Australia). In 2018 he was the recipient of the Pettman/ROSL Chamber Music Scholarship which enabled him to study and perform in the UK for one month with The Morton Trio. In addition to this, the Tasman Trio – of which Liam is a member – performed Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with the Wellington Chamber Orchestra in 2019.

He was a prize winner in the National Concerto Competition where he performed with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, and he has also featured as a soloist with the Auckland Chamber Orchestra and Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra.

Wooding is a graduate of the University of Auckland and the University of Waikato where he received a Master of Music degree studying under Rae de Lisle MMNZ and Katherine Austin.

He currently studies at the Australian National Academy of Music under Timothy Young.

Wooding is grateful to have received support for his study from the Creative New Zealand Jack Mcgill Scholarship, Dame Malvina Major Foundation, Te Ati Hau Trust, Whanganui Trust, FAME trust, Anne Bellam Scholarship, Kerby Bursary, The University of Waikato and the University of Auckland.

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We welcome you!

Artist & Logistics Manager Megan Andrews

Patron The Governor General, Her Excellency The Right Honourable Dame Patsy Reddy,

Business & Finance Manager Vanessa Zigliani

GNZM, QSO

Board of Trustees John Judge (Chair) Rick Carlyon Angela Clatworthy Evan Davies Sarah Judkins Graham Tipene Fred Ward Angela Watson

Founding Friends Adrian Burr Graeme Edwards Friedlander Foundation Dame Jenny Gibbs Sir Chris & Dayle, Lady Mace

Artist Liaison Assistant Martyn Wood Programme Administrator Chelsea Bridges Kaiāwhina Hōtaka Jordan Walker

Accounts & Payroll Administrator Mirena Tomas Accounts Assistant Marina Howey

Head of Lighting Abby Clearwater Head of Staging Andrew Gibson Head of Sound Khalid Parkar Sam Clavis Production Management Team Vicki Cooksley Hannah Moore & Pilot Productions

Marketing & Audience Development Manager Ashley M. David Communications Manager Sarah Illingworth Brand & Content Manager Tim Wong Marketing Coordinator Camila Araos Elevancini Marketing & Communications Assistants Jesse Carpenter Nahyeon Lee Kylie Leggoe Ticketing Manager Jillian Davey Ticketing Assistant Charlotte Underhill Partnerships Manager Vanessa Morgan

Reception/ Office Assistant Jesse Quaid Office Assistant Andrea Bartlett

Contact Ph +64 09 309 0101 Email info@aaf.co.nz Level 5, Wellesley Centre, 44–52 Wellesley Street West PO Box 5419, Victoria Street West, Auckland 1142, Aotearoa NZ

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CORPORAT E PATRONS

Atrium Carpark

MA JOR F U NDE RS

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S ILVER PAT R O N S

Sir Roderick & Gillian, Lady Deane Friedlander Foundation Kent & Gaye Gardner Janet Clarke & John Judge Andrew & Jenny Smith Sir James Wallace (The Wallace Foundation)

Brian & Julie Cadzow Jeremy Collins Family Christine & Richard Didsbury Jan & Trevor Farmer Dame Jenny Gibbs John & Jo Gow Sally & David Inns Rochelle McLaren Sir Chris & Lady Dayle Mace Fran Wyborn

B R ONZ E PAT RO NS John Barnett Frances Bell John Billington QC Rick & Jenny Carlyon Rosslyn Caughey Mark & Angela Clatworthy Sally Clatworthy Nicola Johnson & Stephen Mills QC Michael Moore & Andrew Gelonese Kate Plaw Sonbol & Farzbod Taefi Lady Philippa Tait Walker & Hall Trust Fred & Nicky Ward

JAD E PATR O N S Jenny Anderson Graham Cleary Amber Coulter & Andrew Lewis Vanessa Morgan Shona Roberts Fran & Geoff Ricketts Chris Simcock & Camilla Hope-Simcock Christopher Walsh Suzanne Watt & Neal Harrington

#AAF2021 #AKLFEST AAF. CO.N Z