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Otago Daily Times
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Spellbinding performance
NEW ZEALAND STRING QUARTET AT OROKONUI ECOSANCTUARY Saturday, May 10. The wonder, joy and drama of music kept a capacity audience spellbound during a thrilling performance by the New Zealand String Quartet at Orokonui Ecosanctuary on Saturday. Silhouetted against the background of sunset over the ecosanctuary's forested hills, the quartet, comprising long-standing violist Gillian Ansell, recently appointed violinist Peter Clark, and guest musicians Arna Morton (violin) and Callum Hall (cello), were magnificent throughout. The concert opened with New Zealand composer Salina Fisher's extraordinary Torino — Echoes on Putorino improvisations by Rob Thorne, a beautiful, contemplative exploration of the sounds of taonga pūoro traditional Māori instruments. The NZSQ performance was spellbinding in its gentle evocation of these ancient instruments, giving a wonderful feeling of peace. The NZSQ then shifted gear to tackle the fast-paced, youthful exuberance of Shostakovich's String Quartet No 1 in C major, working seamlessly together to draw out its shifts in tone and tempo. The concert's second half featured Grieg's monumental String Quartet in G minor, a sprightly, virtuosic four-movement work, with the NZSQ bringing its complex, orchestral texture to the fore. Led by Morton in the first violin role, the quartet were superb throughout the work, tackling its many rapid runs and trills at breakneck speed and earning a well deserved shout of excitement from the audience at its conclusion. Following sustained applause, the NZSQ returned to treat the audience to a jaunty rendition of the Stuart Reel, which really got the toes tapping. All in all, the New Zealand String Quartet's appearance at Orokonui Ecosanctuary was a fabulous musical showcase in very special surroundings. Bravo!
Otago Daily Times
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Role ‘real treasure, delight and honour'
He may be Australian, but violinist Peter Clark is enthusiastic about representing his homeland's smaller rival as part of the New Zealand String Quartet. The newest member of the quartet is on his first NZSQ tour in Australia and about to perform at Dunedin's Orokonui Ecosanctuary, he tells Rebecca Fox. It is the dream of most classical string performers to be a member of a major string quartet. But the positions are notoriously rare, so when Australian violinist Peter Clark heard a violin position was coming up in the New Zealand String Quartet (NZSQ) as Monique Lapins moved on, he put his name forward. Clark, who had been principal violin of the chamber music Omega Ensemble and previously first violinist of the Australian Chamber Orchestra's Inspire Quartet, and core member of Melbourne's Inventi Ensemble, had spent much of his time between New York and Sydney or Melbourne. ''I had been living pretty much out of a suitcase for, goodness, most of my adult life, really.'' He got the job as second violinist after an intense two-hour audition. ''It's a wonderful thing to be a part of one, actually. There are lots of orchestral jobs and lots of teaching jobs around the world. But string quartets, you're one of four voices, one of four people, and there's a lot of responsibility on you. So it's actually a real treasure, delight and honour to be now a member of the NZSQ.'' Moving to New Zealand was not a problem for the Hobart, Tasmania-raised musician, who describes many similarities between there and Wellington. ''It's wonderful to call New Zealand home and I feel very, very, very excited to be there. And I feel like there are possibilities artistically that you can have in New Zealand you can't have anywhere else in the world.'' One of those opportunities he is excited about is his plans, with NZTrio violinist Amalia Hall, to create a New Zealand Chamber Orchestra - something the country does not have. ''When I came to New Zealand, I was quite sort of shocked that it didn't have a chamber orchestra. And so I think it could be a very exciting new chapter for the classical music realm, but also collaborating with other artists. So you won't just hear classical music, you'll hear all sorts of different artistic collaborations coming together. And to create concerts that really shock and inspire and move and empower and surprise.'' While it could be a year or two away, he hopes the orchestra, which would have about five first violins, five second violins, three or four violas, cellos and one or two basses, would celebrate the best of the country's existing symphony orchestras and ensembles, coming together quarterly to perform. ''It is the perfect hybrid between a big symphony orchestra and a string quartet. It's also very tourable, but the sound and energy you get from a chamber orchestra is really unbelievable and it's an opportunity, I think, for this country to create something really new.'' Clark has experience with chamber orchestras in Australia -his first performance in Carnegie Hall in New York was with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, at the age of 20. He does not believe such an orchestra would compete with existing organisations. Instead it would celebrate their work and enable audiences to see musicians from around the country perform. ''I think its something very exciting, which will only amplify the artistic mission and visions of all of these organisations, and for me, alongside the New Zealand String Quartet.'' While he is letting this idea percolate, he is busy with his first international tour with the NZSQ alongside founding member violist Gillian Ansell and two guest musicians after the resignation last year of married couple violinist Helene Pohl and cellist Rolf Gjelsten. They are recruiting two permanent members at present which they hope to announce later this year. The NZSQ has recently been performing at the Warren Chamber Music Festival in Australia. ''It's wonderful to be representing New Zealand in Australia because I think we could be doing more and more cross-Tasman cultural kind of collaborations and concerts in each other's countries much more, I think.'' The quartet also recently collaborated with the New Zealand Dance Company and choreographer Moss Te Ururangi Patterson on 100 winds Taupo Hau Rau and are about to embark on a tour of the south of the South Island. Clark said a musician's week was ''not a typical five, two ... you don't really even know what day it is most of the time, if I'm honest''. ''It keeps you on your toes and it's exciting.'' In Dunedin, they will return to Orokonui Ecosanctuary to perform - last year's concert there sold out. This year they will play a varied programme, including New Zealand composer Salina Fisher's Tōrino - echoes on pūtōrino improvisations by Rob Thorne, Dmitri Shostakovich's String Quartet No.3 and Edvard Grieg's String Quartet in G minor, accompanied by Auckland cellist Callum Hall and Christchurch violinist Arna Morton. ''It's interesting that music like Shostakovich can sound so strikingly relevant and effective. And then after the interval, a wonderful, almost quartet of symphonic proportions, a Grieg G minor quartet, which will just bring the house down. It's quite one of those big showstopper pieces.'' Clark plays a 1784 Lorenzo Storioni violin, leant by the Lily Duncan Trust, an instrument he describes as being like another limb and one he does not let out of his sight when travelling. ''They're basically strapped to us, almost like the Blues Brothers when they handcuff their suitcase of money to their wrists. We do take great care of them. We're very lucky to have these beautiful instruments that can sound gorgeous. And it's interesting that we don't really own an instrument, we're merely sort of custodians of that instrument, keeping it safe for the next person when we're all gone.'' It is not unusual for Clark, who has also performed as concertmaster with New Zealand Opera, Sydney Chamber Opera, Victoria Opera, Royal New Zealand Ballet, Darwin Symphony Orchestra, and Orchestra Wellington, to have multiple projects on the go as he is passionate about music advocacy and education as well, something that developed out of his own childhood experiences. Clark grew up in a musical family, with both his mother and aunt being pianists, but the family's musical legacy began with his grandmother, who was awarded an Order of Australia Medal for her services to music education, having taught piano from age 16 to 86. ''So I'm very lucky to have been part of this sort of line of wonderful musicians.'' He cannot remember how he came to play the violin, but it was his mother's second instrument. ''I can't remember a time I didn't have a violin or didn't have one in my hands or didn't consider myself a violinist.'' But he considers his fate was sealed during secondary school when he and his younger brother, now a viola player in the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and two other boys from school who played the cello and violin formed a string quartet. ''We would go busking every Saturday. And we actually, we got so good at busking, we played by memory.'' After busking they would head to one of the boys' homes and play tennis and rehearse chamber music. ''And then eat Nutella sandwiches, not quite red wine and beer at those times. Eat Nutella sandwiches, play video games, play tennis and play chamber music after busking and making our tax-free money in the morning.'' All four are now professional musicians playing around the world. While it was an idyllic way to grow up, his older brother is severely disabled and now lives in supported living. He also plays the violin. ''But he did a lot for William and I in terms of giving us perspective and inspired in myself a lot of the outreach and programmes and engagement work that I've done across the world in New York and Australia, regional Australia especially.'' Clark, who has a MBA in Arts Innovation, firmly believes that music can be used to bring people together and bring meaning to people's lives. He ran a programme for a string quartet through the Australian Chamber Orchestra at the Royal Melbourne Children's Hospital. ''We had to go there a lot growing up for our older brother, you know, two or three times a year from Hobart. These young kids at the hospital, which I'd been one of, a sibling of a sick kid, and often sort of sitting around, and to bring something like a string quartet and bring music and for sick kids who couldn't come to the music, we brought it to them.'' It is a side of his career that he puts equal importance on alongside his own performing career. ''So I'm always also interested alongside sort of high art music, kind of concert giving, the way music can be used to build community and bring meaning to all different stakeholders and individuals in our world.'' He believes musicians can learn so much from the people they come into contact with in their careers. ''I think to see how much music can mean, it empowers young people, you know, the beautiful smiles on their faces and the sort of relief and the sort of suspension of their suffering just for a short while is really powerful and meaningful. It's quite a beautiful thing. ''That certainly inspires us to keep doing more.'' That is important in an increasingly technological world, as is educating and inspiring the next generation of musicians through education programmes. ''It's important we keep these acoustic art forms and manual ways of doing things, just keeping them really strong. Because I think human beings, I think Covid showed us and taught us, that we actually crave human connection and we want to be at live concerts and we want to experience something real. I mean, AI can be wonderful and it's going to help us a lot in our world, but I think music's always helped us and will continue to.'' To see: New Zealand String Quartet, Orokonui Ecosanctuary, May 10 The Lodge, Arrowtown Lifestyle Village, May 11
Otago Daily Times
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Ecosanctuary concert returns
Gillian Ansell, NZSQ violist. Photos: supplied Following a sell-out performance last year, a new-look New Zealand String Quartet (NZSQ) will return to perform at Orokonui Ecosanctuary Te Korowai o Mihiwaka this month. The concert, which will be held Saturday, May 10, at 5pm at Orokonui Ecosanctuary cafe, marks the return of the popular quartet to the city, with a fresh programme of music, NZSQ said in a statement. Peter Clark, NZSQ violinist. The programme will feature music bridging the ancient and modern. These will include Tōrino — echoes on pūtōrino improvisations by Rob Thorne, a powerful and haunting piece by New Zealand composer Salina Fisher, the emotional intensity of Shostakovich's 3rd String Quartet and the passionate Nordic drama of Grieg's sweeping G minor Quartet. Arna Morton, NZSQ guest violinist. For this concert, long-standing NZSQ violist Gillian Ansell will be joined by recently appointed violinist Peter Clark, along with Christchurch-based guest musicians Arna Morton (violin) and Callum Hall (cello). As the NZSQ's mission is to share the joy of chamber music with all through accessible and engaging performances, each piece of music will be introduced by the quartet members themselves. Callum Hall, NZSQ guest cellist. The concert is a partnership between NZSQ and Orokonui Ecosanctuary and a portion of the ticket price will be donated to support the ecosanctuary's vital work with wildlife. Tickets are available via — APL
Scotsman
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Scotsman
BASC calls for delay to Muirburn Licensing Scheme amid concerns over code
The British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC), Scotland's largest shooting and conservation organisation, is calling on the Scottish Government to pause the implementation of the proposed muirburn licensing scheme until the 2026/27 season. Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The association warns that pushing ahead with the scheme in its current state risks creating confusion, eroding trust, and undermining efforts to manage Scotland's uplands effectively. The Government intends to enforce the licensing regime from 15 September 2025, coinciding with the start of the 2025/26 muirburn season. Yet, with the Muirburn Code still under active consultation by NatureScot, BASC argues that further clarity is required. Members and practitioners across the country are voicing deep concern over the practicality and workability of the proposals. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Compounding these issues is the recent surge in wildfires across Scotland, highlighting the vital importance of controlled burning as a land management tool. Introducing licensing at this point - without clarity, consensus, or readiness - would be reckless. BASC Scotland director Peter Clark. BASC has been engaging robustly in the consultation process to ensure that its members' voices are not only heard but heeded. Among the most pressing issues are ambiguous guidance on peatland depth measurement, the unclear distinction between legal obligations and best practice, and overly prescriptive restrictions on burning on slopes. These gaps must be addressed before any licensing regime can be credibly implemented. The association also points to the chaotic rollout of the grouse shoot licensing scheme in 2024 as a stark warning. Despite clear advice from BASC to delay the scheme, it was rushed in before the 12th August start date - resulting in some confusion, particularly around the land that was covered by grouse shoot licences. Concerns are not confined to the shooting community. Other rural organisations, including the National Farmers' Union of Scotland, have echoed BASC's alarm, warning of the wide-ranging implications for landowners, farmers, and land managers. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
7 clues revealed by Hawaiʻi's ancient glaciers, the Pacific's only subtropical glacial formations
HONOLULU (KHON2) — A recent study on the ancient glaciers of Mauna Kea on Hawaiʻi Island has revealed important insights about how past climate changes affected the region and how these shifts could impact global climate patterns today. The research focused on boulders left behind by glaciers and provided evidence about the influence of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), an ocean current system in the North Atlantic. Here's what scientists discovered: Mauna Kea once had a large glacier that was about 70 square kilometers in size. Peter Clark, a professor of geosciences at Oregon State University, explained, 'Mauna Kea had a large glacial ice cap of about 70 square kilometers until 14,500 years ago, which has now all disappeared.' This glacier existed during the last ice age and melted as the global climate warmed. The research uncovered something unexpected: around 15,400 years ago, Mauna Kea's glacier started to grow again. This growth almost matched the size of the glacier during the ice age. This timing coincided with a slowdown in the AMOC, an ocean current system that helps regulate global climate by moving warm water from the tropics to the North Atlantic. The AMOC is essential for keeping Europe warmer than expected for its latitude. Studies have shown that when the AMOC slows down, it causes a cooling effect in Europe. But the new research showed that the slowdown of the AMOC didn't just impact Europe. It also affected places as far away as Hawaiʻi. Clark noted, 'The decline of the AMOC basically caused climate changes all over the world.' The study shows that changes in the North Atlantic's currents can have ripple effects globally. It was found that the glacier's growth was due to more than colder temperatures; it was also caused by a dramatic increase in rainfall. Scientists found that the amount of rainfall on Mauna Kea during this time was three times greater than it is believe this increased rainfall may have been caused by more frequent cyclonic storms moving in from the north, further influencing the glacier's size. To pinpoint the timing of the glacier's growth and retreat, the researchers studied boulders left behind by the glacier. By measuring a specific helium isotope in these rocks, they could determine when the boulders were last exposed to the atmosphere. This was a key part of uncovering the history of Mauna Kea's glacier, as these boulders are the only known record of glaciation in the northern subtropical Pacific. This study supports the idea that changes in the AMOC have a global impact. When the AMOC slows down, it can trigger shifts in climate patterns worldwide. Scientists are concerned that the continued effects of climate change, such as melting ice and changing precipitation patterns, could lead to another slowdown of the AMOC, which could cause significant climate disruptions globally. Mauna Kea is the only place in the northern subtropical Pacific where evidence of ancient glaciation still exists. Although Mauna Loa likely also had glaciers in the past, volcanic eruptions have erased those records. This makes Mauna Kea's glacier boulders especially important for studying past climate events. You can click to read the full study. The research shows that changes in the AMOC can have far-reaching consequences for the climate across the planet and can affect regions like Hawaiʻi. Get news on the go with KHON 2GO, KHON's morning podcast, every morning at 8 The study also raises important concerns about future climate changes and the possible slowdown of the AMOC, which could cause significant disruptions to the climate system. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
