Sunday Concerts Presents Solo Pianist John Chen
Sunday Concerts presents the John Chen at 3 pm on Sunday 15 June 2025 at St Andrews on The Terrace, Wellington. Having become the youngest ever winner of the Sydney International Piano Competition in 2004, at the age of 18, Chen has performed with most of the major symphony orchestras in Australia and New Zealand.
He presents an all-French programme that is a celebration of the beautiful simplicity and melodic romanticism that a solo piano can achieve.
The programme of this concert features Poulenc's Three Novelettes, Duparc's Four Melodies, Franck's Prelude Chorale and Fugue, Fauré's Theme and Variations op. 73, and Saint-Saëns' 6 Etudes Op. 111
John Chen studied with Rae de Lisle at the University of Auckland, where he obtained his Master of Music, followed by an Artist Diploma at Colburn Conservatory in Los Angeles under John Perry.
Reflecting a passion for 20th century French music, he has made recordings of works by Henri Dutilleux, Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel for Naxos and ABC Classics.
For more information see www.sundayconcerts.org.nz or Eventfinda for bookings. Tickets are $40 or $10 for those under 26. School students are free if accompanying an adult.
This concert is presented in association with Chamber Music NZ and is part of a 13-concert tour by Chen.
Background information
Wellington Chamber Music was formed in 1945 and has been presenting Sunday Concerts since 1982. The concerts feature top NZ artists and most concerts are recorded by RNZ Concert for later broadcast – often heard in the 1-3 pm slot on RNZ Concert. Ticket prices are modest as the organisers are unpaid volunteers, though the artists receive professional fees.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scoop
7 hours ago
- Scoop
Sunday Concerts Presents Solo Pianist John Chen
Press Release – Wellington Chamber Music Sunday Concerts presents the John Chen at 3 pm on Sunday 15 June 2025 at St Andrews on The Terrace, Wellington. Having become the youngest ever winner of the Sydney International Piano Competition in 2004, at the age of 18, Chen has performed with most of the major symphony orchestras in Australia and New Zealand. He presents an all-French programme that is a celebration of the beautiful simplicity and melodic romanticism that a solo piano can achieve. The programme of this concert features Poulenc's Three Novelettes, Duparc's Four Melodies, Franck's Prelude Chorale and Fugue, Fauré's Theme and Variations op. 73, and Saint-Saëns' 6 Etudes Op. 111 John Chen studied with Rae de Lisle at the University of Auckland, where he obtained his Master of Music, followed by an Artist Diploma at Colburn Conservatory in Los Angeles under John Perry. Reflecting a passion for 20th century French music, he has made recordings of works by Henri Dutilleux, Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel for Naxos and ABC Classics. For more information see or Eventfinda for bookings. Tickets are $40 or $10 for those under 26. School students are free if accompanying an adult. This concert is presented in association with Chamber Music NZ and is part of a 13-concert tour by Chen. Background information Wellington Chamber Music was formed in 1945 and has been presenting Sunday Concerts since 1982. The concerts feature top NZ artists and most concerts are recorded by RNZ Concert for later broadcast – often heard in the 1-3 pm slot on RNZ Concert. Ticket prices are modest as the organisers are unpaid volunteers, though the artists receive professional fees.
Scoop
8 hours ago
- Scoop
Sunday Concerts Presents Solo Pianist John Chen
Sunday Concerts presents the John Chen at 3 pm on Sunday 15 June 2025 at St Andrews on The Terrace, Wellington. Having become the youngest ever winner of the Sydney International Piano Competition in 2004, at the age of 18, Chen has performed with most of the major symphony orchestras in Australia and New Zealand. He presents an all-French programme that is a celebration of the beautiful simplicity and melodic romanticism that a solo piano can achieve. The programme of this concert features Poulenc's Three Novelettes, Duparc's Four Melodies, Franck's Prelude Chorale and Fugue, Fauré's Theme and Variations op. 73, and Saint-Saëns' 6 Etudes Op. 111 John Chen studied with Rae de Lisle at the University of Auckland, where he obtained his Master of Music, followed by an Artist Diploma at Colburn Conservatory in Los Angeles under John Perry. Reflecting a passion for 20th century French music, he has made recordings of works by Henri Dutilleux, Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel for Naxos and ABC Classics. For more information see or Eventfinda for bookings. Tickets are $40 or $10 for those under 26. School students are free if accompanying an adult. This concert is presented in association with Chamber Music NZ and is part of a 13-concert tour by Chen. Background information Wellington Chamber Music was formed in 1945 and has been presenting Sunday Concerts since 1982. The concerts feature top NZ artists and most concerts are recorded by RNZ Concert for later broadcast – often heard in the 1-3 pm slot on RNZ Concert. Ticket prices are modest as the organisers are unpaid volunteers, though the artists receive professional fees.
RNZ News
30-05-2025
- RNZ News
Making rainbow connections
This audio is not downloadable due to copyright restrictions. Tabea Squire Photo: Eustie Kamath Once again, secondary school music students across the country are competing in Aotearoa's annual chamber music contest. But for this, the competition's 60th incarnation, composer Tabea Squire has attempted to address a perennial issue: how do you put very different ensembles on an equal footing? Squire's solution is a little like a set of Lego blocks - short musical phrases coded by colour (she calls them 'bricks') some of them pitched, some just rhythm - which competitors can arrange, repeat, mix and match as they like, to build their own piece. It's called "Rainbow Construction" and the blocks she's set out in the user manual represent all the colours of said rainbow, along with ultraviolet, which is a family of options for rests. As in the sounds you can't hear - get it? Speaking to RNZ Concert, Squire said the inspiration for the piece came from Terry Riley's "In C" which also invites players to mix and match musical ideas set out by the composer. Squire says there's only one hard and fast rule: don't transpose the notes she's written in the bricks into different keys. Otherwise it's all over to the competing groups and the instruments they use, be they steel percussion bands or string quartets or anything in between, to decide how to build their piece. And no, if it doesn't suit your ensemble, Squire says you don't have to attempt it. Meanwhile Squire, who won the composition category of the New Zealand Community Trust Chamber Music Contest in 2006, continues to work on her fully-scored music for concerts, including one which the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra will play later this year. And here's a video of another of her works, "I Dance, Unseen". District rounds for this year's NZCT Chamber Music Contest began this week, with the final in Auckland in August.
