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It was a huge honour to have my work for piano trio, convergency, premiered by the immensely talented NZTrio at the University of Auckland School of Music on Friday 6 May. This work was inspired by an artwork by Nelson artist Lee Woodman who is also a family friend. I entered convergency into NZTrio’s 2021 AudioVisualise composing competition and had the privilege of being selected as one of the six winning works, from a pool of works submitted by tertiary students from around Aotearoa.

The Winners’ Concert was originally scheduled to take place in October 2021 but was postponed because of the Covid lockdown at the time. I was very fortunate to be at the rescheduled concert in person as the other composers were spread across the country, but luckily there was a livestream which meant everyone could tune in. It was so nice to have my family watching and to read their excited messages during the interval – isn’t technology great. I was beyoooond thrilled with NZTrio’s performance of my work, what an absolute dream.

Very grateful for the opportunity!

Thrilled to have my work included in this concert, To Everything There is a Season, performed on May 21st by Michigan-based Celebris Ensemble as part of their 2022 concert series. This marks the international premiere of Let My Country Awake, and the first overseas performance of my work ever. I entered this piece into their international composition competition and received an Honorary Mention which led to this performance.

Excited to get the news that my piece for a cappella mixed voices, Let My Country Awake, will be performed in Michigan, USA, in Celebris Ensembles’ 2022-2023 season after being named as a finalist in their composition competition. Watch this space!

Well December has arrived and it’s been quite the eventful year, in more ways than one.

The silver lining of the covid situation is that 2022 is going to be filled with all of the postponed concerts and events that couldn’t go ahead this year. Turns out there’s quite a bit to look forward to already!

Read on for all the details.

NZTrio Winners Concert. This was due to take place in Auckland in October but will now be held sometime next year. The six winning works of the 2021 NZTrio AudioVisualise Composing Competition will be performed, including my piece convergency.

Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra Our Voice Orchestral Readings. This was first scheduled for September, then postponed to November, and now postponed to 2022. My piece marble, bark, silver for chamber orchestra will have its first airing at this workshop. It’s in three movements, two of which were pretty experimental, so I’m looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

Kotahitanga Public Opening. The Kotahitanga exhibition, which I wrote this piece for, opened in September at the University of Waikato with a small launch event and karakia attended by the artists involved, instead of the planned public opening (due to Covid alert levels). There has been some talk of holding the public opening event early next year, so if this does happen I may have to drag some of my friends down from Auckland to come along ;)

lady of the river premiere. This piece, written for SATB choir, piano, and string orchestra, was meant to be performed in October 2020 by the University of Auckland Student Choir and Orchestra at a joint concert. Of course, covid stepped in with the August/September Auckland outbreak in 2020, and again in 2021. Hopefully 2022 will be third time lucky.

Cantorum Christmas Concert. Cantorum commissioned me to write this piece for their Christmas concert. It was originally scheduled to be performed in December 2021 but due to the extended lockdown in Auckland, it will now (all going well) be premiered at their 2022 Christmas concert.

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This will be my last post for 2021 – I’ve managed to publish one post per month for the past seven months and I must say I’m quite proud of myself. My goal for 2022 is to do one post per month for the whole year which should be very doable.

For now, wishing you all a very merry Christmas – see you in the new year xx

 

 

Some good news to share as the end of the year rapidly approaches!

I was chuffed to find out that my work nunc dimittis, for double SATB choir, has been awarded a Highly Commended in the Open Category of the 2021 Compose Aotearoa! choral composition competition. I was stoked to see the judges mention the ‘ethereal and dreamlike’ quality of my piece in their comments. I’m really glad that came across – even through the very DIY vocal demo that I submitted, in which I sing every part 😂

I first entered nunc dimittis into the 25 & Under Category of the inaugural contest in 2020, where it was also awarded a Highly Commended. After being workshopped by the Auckland Chamber Choir, and undergoing some serious revision for my masters portfolio submission, I submitted the new and improved piece into the Open Category this year. As an emerging composer still finding my feet in this industry, it’s a real honour to be recognised in the Open Category alongside some well-established Kiwi composers that I look up to.

I’m on the hunt for a choir to premiere this work! The score is presented as temporal boxed notation so it’s a little different from the norm. If you know of a choir looking for a challenge, or something to get their teeth into, please do get in touch and I’ll send through a score and demo.

See the official announcement post below for the full list of award recipients: