Hamish McKeich Conductor

Sébastien Hurtaud Cello

Boulez Mémoriale (…explosante-fixe… Originel)

Gareth Farr Cello Concerto Chemin des Dames (world premiere)

John Adams Naïve and Sentimental Music

 

The late Pierre Boulez was without doubt one of music’s most articulate and controversial characters. We commemorate his death in 2016 with a performance of Mémoriale (…explosante-fixe… Originel). Boulez’s intimate and haunting Mémoriale is written for single flute and eight instruments. Boulez wrote the piece as a tribute to Canadian flautist Lawrence Beauregard, who died aged 28, and it has rarely been performed in New Zealand.

Equally opinionated, the American composer John Adams shows us another side with his Naïve and Sentimental Music. This work explores the attraction of opposites: thinking versus feeling, and sensation versus intuition in a symphony of ideas and a seduction of sounds.

Gareth Farr’s requiem concerto Chemin des Dames pays tribute to the soldiers who fell on the First World War battlefields of France and Belgium, and reminds us of the profound grief and trauma felt by their families and wider communities. Performed by Adam International Cello Competition winner Sébastien Hurtaud, Chemin des Dames will be performed in both Aotearoa and France, bringing musicians and audiences together to remember our shared history. This world premiere is funded by the First World War Centenary (WW100) Co-commissioning Fund.

Contemporary music expert Maestro Hamish McKeich leads this exhilarating concert of music from Aotearoa and the world.