Well-paced, exciting final drew large audience
Rising Stars Finalists
Dunedin Town Hall
Friday May 16
The 2025 Dunedin Concerto Competition final, in which three young musicians performed with a full orchestra, attracted a large audience to the Dunedin Town Hall on Friday night.
The first half of the programme featured the Dunedin Youth Orchestra, a strong 60-member orchestra with big sound and enthusiasm.
DYO (conductor David Burchell) began with Offenbach's overture La Belle Helene, featuring contrasting flowing waltz passages and robust sections.
They continued with varied movements from three substantial suites — L'arlesienne Suite No.2 by Bizet, Little Suite No.2 by Malcolm Arnold and Montagues and Capulets from Romeo and Juliet Suite No.2 by Prokofiev. The well-known Eric Coates' Knightsbridge March completed their contribution.
All were well-paced and exciting and the conductor for the second half, James Judd, commented he was "knocked out by the quality of the first half". He conducted the DSO which included a number of DYO instrumentalists gaining experience with a professional orchestra.
The Concerto Competition attracted 25 applicants, three aged under 14. I attended preliminary performances and can vouch for the high standard of performance and the difficulty the judges (Monique Lapins, Jian Liu and Samuel Jacobs) faced in naming just three for the final.
First place ($7000) went to pianist Ozan Biner-McGrath (year 12 Logan Park High School), who chose the allegro movement of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 20 in D Minor for a strong, confident, stylistic delivery with impressive scalic cadenza.
Second place ($5000) went to first-year University of Otago student Portia Bell (cello) for the allegro movement of Dvorak's Cello Concerto Op. 104.
Taking third place ($3000) was Otago University first-year student Roy Zhang (piano), who played with two movements of Ravel's Piano Concerto in G Major. A rather "showy" allegramente displayed the movement's jazz elements, followed by adagio, which developed stunningly with woodwind lyricism and obligato.
Review by Elizabeth Bouman
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Otago Daily Times
6 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
Programme ‘quite a ride'
Versatile, Wellington-based conductor Brent Stewart has returned to Dunedin this week amid preparations for the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra's "Amalia Plays Piazzolla" matinee series concerts. The two concerts, to be held on Saturday from 5pm and Sunday from 3pm at King's & Queen's Performing Arts Centre, will showcase a programme ranging across more than two hundred years. Stewart, who last conducted the DSO during the "Synthony" concert in Christchurch last year, which fused electronic dance music and classical music together, is thoroughly enjoying working with the orchestra again. "We are preparing a fascinating programme for this weekend's concerts, from Nathaniel Otley's extraordinary new work to one of Mozart's greatest symphonies — it's going to be quite a ride," Stewart said. Opening the concert, Otley's piece — the rising tide: these former wetlands , inspired by the environmental changes in South Dunedin — required orchestra members to adopt a range of unusual techniques to bring the composer's vision to life. "We are bringing Nathaniel in to all of our rehearsals of the piece, to give support, feedback and answer the musicians' questions," Stewart said. "He has a lot of very specific requirements for sounds, including using quarter tones, specific timbres, tongue slaps, fingernails on the timpani, unusual bowing techniques and even incorporating sculptures. "It can be quite challenging, so we are doing a lot of workshopping in rehearsals, which has been fascinating." Otley himself would participate in the performance, controlling sample sounds alongside the orchestra. "This piece has been Nathaniel's main focus for this year, so we really want to honour his amazing work by giving it the best possible premiere performance." The orchestra will then be joined on stage by leading New Zealand violinist Amalia Hall for a performance of Piazzolla's Four Seasons of Buenos Aires , arranged by Ukrainian composer Leonid Desyatnikov. Written in 1970, the piece is described as a tango-infused answer to Vivaldi's famous Four Seasons, which includes "quotations" from the original work. "I am lucky enough to work with Amalia quite regularly in Wellington, and she is a prodigious talent. "It is impressive how quickly she can learn music by heart and her ear is amazing," Stewart said. There were moments throughout the piece where the orchestra section leads would play with Hall in a kind-of string quartet formation, and there were many high-spirited moments throughout. "It's one of those pieces where you can see the players really enjoying themselves — it's groovy, uplifting and very accessible. "I think we are in for a very special performance of this really fun and interesting work." During his last visit to Dunedin in 2023, Stewart conducted the DSO in a performance of Mozart's Symphony No. 41 , so it is fitting that on his return he will conduct another brilliant late-career masterpiece — Mozart's Symphony No. 39 . "Mozart's final three symphonies, which he wrote in a great flurry of activity, are considered among his greatest. "The Symphony No. 39 has a great sense of dance running through it, and will be a lovely way to round out the concert." As a freelance conductor, working on developing his career, Stewart is working with a range of musical organisations, including as musical director of Orpheus Choir in Wellington, NZ Secondary School Choir, Orchestra Wellington, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, NZ Opera, NZ Ballet and the DSO. He was recently named the NZ Opera Friedlander Foundation Associate Artist for 2025. "I am having a very busy year, which is great and gives me opportunities to continue building my relationships with musical organisations here and overseas," he said.
Otago Daily Times
10-08-2025
- Otago Daily Times
Summit offers chance for global break
A Dunedin band feels it is on the verge of breaking out globally after being selected among the best independent acts from New Zealand. Early '90s-inspired alternative rock band IVY has been selected to perform at the Going Global Music Summit in Auckland later this month. The event is an opportunity for the band to perform at the Summit's Showcase Festival and network at its conference with international booking agents. IVY lead guitarist James Axton said it felt surreal to have been given the opportunity. "I found out while I was at work actually and sort of lost my mind a little there." The band had only performed outside of the South Island once. The biggest show they had played at was at Errick's music venue in Dunedin to 300 people with the Dunedin Youth Orchestra backing them. Mr Axton said that felt like a "monumental day" considering it had only been a short while since they were playing in front of about five people at Brighton Rugby Club. The band is made up of four former Bayfield High School students — Mr Axton, Jesse Hanan, Ocean Wilson and Connor Cooper — and former Otago Boys' High School student Louis Stevenson, a violinist who was a late addition to the band. Mr Axton said the band had experienced a mix of struggle and really fast progress as independent artists. "I don't think we've really experienced any sort of tall poppy syndrome as of yet. "Everybody's been super encouraging and supportive of us, which has been fantastic. "But it has been a lot of hard work and it's been quite intense recently, quite a lot of pressure and stress." He said the band always dreamt of going on world tours and were really excited about the opportunity to perform at Going Global. They were planning on releasing their debut album in September and were going to promote it at an R18 gig on October 3 and an all-ages gig on October 5 at Pearl Diver.
Otago Daily Times
23-07-2025
- Otago Daily Times
Fine concert an antidote to winter chill
DUNEDIN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA PRESENTS "SUBLIME SCHUBERT" Sunday, July 20 King's & Queen's PAC A crowd-pleasing showcase of music by some of the world's greatest Baroque and Classical era composers delighted a capacity audience at Sunday's second Dunedin Symphony Orchestra "Sublime Schubert" concert. Last weekend's pair of DSO matinee series concerts were both very popular, showing that this relaxed approach to midwinter music remains a hit with local audiences. Sunday's concert began with Handel's famous Music for the Royal Fireworks, an exuberant Baroque celebration featuring a substantial overture and several dance-like movements, which the orchestra tackled with spirited aplomb led by visiting conductor Benjamin Bayl. Then, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra principal oboe Robert Orr joined the DSO as soloist in Mozart's lively Oboe Concerto in C major. Filled with brilliant, virtuosic passages and including a series of spectacular soloist cadenzas, the concerto was given a masterful performance by Orr, with sterling support from the orchestra. Both soloist and ensemble worked beautifully together to bring this lyrical and playful piece to life. The concert's second half featured Schubert's dramatic, high-energy Symphony No 4 in C minor — dubbed "Tragic" by the 19 year-old composer. Filled with Schubert's signature beautiful melodies and rhythmic interplay, the piece gave the orchestra's various sections ample chances to shine, which they made the most of. Particularly worthy of note was the superb performance by the woodwind section. All in all, Sunday's matinee concert was a wonderful musical treat, and a delightful antidote to the winter chill.
