Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra
Encyclopedia
The Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra was established in the early 1980s and has become one of New Zealand
's major performing organisations. The instigation of its Composer-in-Residence programme in 1990 has made the orchestra
an important force in the promotion of New Zealand
composed music
.
, New Zealand
's largest city, the orchestra performs more than 145 concerts a year, accompanies the national opera and ballet and international touring companies. The Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra has performed with several leading artists including Placido Domingo
, José Carreras
and opera singer Luciano Pavarotti
, Moura Lympany
, Julian Lloyd Webber
, Nigel Kennedy
, Diana Krall
, The Manhattan Transfer
, Meat Loaf
, Serj Tankian
and Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, the orchestra’s Patron.
The orchestra has a strong commitment to New Zealand music and is dedicated to contribute to the development of music education. With school concerts aligned with the curriculum and designed for all age brackets, specialised mentoring programmes, composer, conductor and young musician workshops and summer schools, a comprehensive programme works at all educational levels.
The Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra is supported by The Auckland Philharmonia Friends, Guild, and Foundation, a Board of Trustees, Donors and more than 200 sponsors. Business icon Rosanne Meo has been Chairperson of the Orchestra since 2004.
The Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra hosts the biennial Michael Hill International Violin Competition, rapidly becoming one of the most prestigious music competitions in Australasia.
During his stay in Auckland and performance with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, Burt Bacharach
, award winning pianist and composer, praised the quality of the orchestra.
On March 16, 2009, the orchestra recorded with Armenian-American
rock
singer Serj Tankian
the CD Elect the Dead Symphony
.
and Enrique Diemecke
. Miguel Harth-Bedoya
was appointed Music Director in 1998 and held the position for six years. Roy Goodman
began as Principal Guest Conductor in 2009.
. Previously, Brecon Carter, Marcelle Marlette, and Justine Cormack have held the position.
, considered to have some of the finest acoustics
worldwide. The orchestra performs all of its main series concerts in the Great Hall and hosts chamber music concerts in the adjoined Concert Chamber.
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
's major performing organisations. The instigation of its Composer-in-Residence programme in 1990 has made the orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
an important force in the promotion of New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
composed music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
.
History
In 1980, 19 musicians of the collapsed Symphonia of Auckland founded a new cooperatively run orchestra that has now achieved regional icon status as the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra. Resident in AucklandAuckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
's largest city, the orchestra performs more than 145 concerts a year, accompanies the national opera and ballet and international touring companies. The Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra has performed with several leading artists including Placido Domingo
Plácido Domingo
Plácido Domingo KBE , born José Plácido Domingo Embil, is a Spanish tenor and conductor known for his versatile and strong voice, possessing a ringing and dramatic tone throughout its range...
, José Carreras
José Carreras
Josep Maria Carreras i Coll , better known as José Carreras , is a Spanish Catalan tenor particularly known for his performances in the operas of Verdi and Puccini...
and opera singer Luciano Pavarotti
Luciano Pavarotti
right|thumb|Luciano Pavarotti performing at the opening of the Constantine Palace in [[Strelna]], 31 May 2003. The concert was part of the celebrations for the 300th anniversary of [[St...
, Moura Lympany
Moura Lympany
Dame Moura Lympany DBE was an English concert pianist.She was born as Mary Gertrude Johnstone at Saltash, Cornwall. Her father was an army officer who had served in World War I and her mother originally taught her the piano...
, Julian Lloyd Webber
Julian Lloyd Webber
Julian Lloyd Webber is a British solo cellist who has been described as the "doyen of British cellists".-Early life:Julian Lloyd Webber is the second son of the composer William Lloyd Webber and his wife Jean Johnstone . He is the younger brother of the composer Andrew Lloyd Webber...
, Nigel Kennedy
Nigel Kennedy
Nigel Kennedy is a British born violinist and violist. He made his early career in the classical field, and he has performed and recorded most of the major violin concerti...
, Diana Krall
Diana Krall
Diana Jean Krall, OC, OBC is a Canadian jazz pianist and singer, known for her contralto vocals. She has sold more than 6 million albums in the US and over 15 million worldwide; altogether, she has sold more albums than any other female jazz artist during the 1990s and 2000s...
, The Manhattan Transfer
The Manhattan Transfer
The Manhattan Transfer is an American vocal music group. There have been two manifestations of the group, with Tim Hauser being the only person to be part of both...
, Meat Loaf
Meat Loaf
Michael Lee Aday , better known by his stage name, Meat Loaf, is an American hard rock musician and actor...
, Serj Tankian
Serj Tankian
Serj Tankian is a Lebanese-born Armenian-American singer–songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, playwright, record producer, poet, and political activist...
and Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, the orchestra’s Patron.
The orchestra has a strong commitment to New Zealand music and is dedicated to contribute to the development of music education. With school concerts aligned with the curriculum and designed for all age brackets, specialised mentoring programmes, composer, conductor and young musician workshops and summer schools, a comprehensive programme works at all educational levels.
The Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra is supported by The Auckland Philharmonia Friends, Guild, and Foundation, a Board of Trustees, Donors and more than 200 sponsors. Business icon Rosanne Meo has been Chairperson of the Orchestra since 2004.
The Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra hosts the biennial Michael Hill International Violin Competition, rapidly becoming one of the most prestigious music competitions in Australasia.
During his stay in Auckland and performance with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, Burt Bacharach
Burt Bacharach
Burt F. Bacharach is an American pianist, composer and music producer. He is known for his popular hit songs and compositions from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, with lyrics written by Hal David. Many of their hits were produced specifically for, and performed by, Dionne Warwick...
, award winning pianist and composer, praised the quality of the orchestra.
On March 16, 2009, the orchestra recorded with Armenian-American
Armenian-American
Armenian Americans are citizens of the United States whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in Armenia. During the United States 2000 Census, 385,488 respondents indicated either full or partial Armenian ancestry...
rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
singer Serj Tankian
Serj Tankian
Serj Tankian is a Lebanese-born Armenian-American singer–songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, playwright, record producer, poet, and political activist...
the CD Elect the Dead Symphony
Elect the Dead Symphony
-Chart positions:-External links:*...
.
Music directors, artistic advisors
Appointed in September 2008, the orchestra's current Music Director is the German conductor, Eckehard Stier. In the past, Artistic Advisors have included such conductors as Edvard TchivzhelEdvard Tchivzhel
Edvard Tchivzhel is a Russian-born conductor and music director of the Greenville Symphony Orchestra, Greenville, South Carolina.-Early life:...
and Enrique Diemecke
Enrique Diemecke
Enrique Arturo Diemecke is a Mexican conductor, violinist and composer of German descent. He comes from a family of musicians of Leipzig. He began to play the violin at six and studied in the Catholic University in Washington D.C and in Pierre Monteaux School under Charles Bruck. Then he studied...
. Miguel Harth-Bedoya
Miguel Harth-Bedoya
Miguel Harth-Bedoya is a Peruvian conductor, currently Music Director of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra , a position he has held since 2000.He was born in Lima, Peru...
was appointed Music Director in 1998 and held the position for six years. Roy Goodman
Roy Goodman
Roy Goodman is a conductor and violinist, specialising in the performance and direction of early music...
began as Principal Guest Conductor in 2009.
Concertmasters
Appointed in November 2005, Dimitri Atanassov is the orchestra's concertmasterConcertmaster
The concertmaster/mistress is the spalla or leader, of the first violin section of an orchestra. In the UK, the term commonly used is leader...
. Previously, Brecon Carter, Marcelle Marlette, and Justine Cormack have held the position.
Composers-in-residence
- 1990 - Ivan Zagni
- 1991 - Eve de Castro-RobinsonEve de Castro-RobinsonEve de Castro-Robinson is a New Zealand composer and graphic designer. She studied at the University of Auckland, where she graduated in 1991 and took a position as Senior Lecturer in Composition at the same university....
- 1992 - Andrew PerkinsAndrew PerkinsAndrew Perkins was born in Warkworth, Northland, New Zealand on New Year's Eve, 1961.He is a New Zealand composer, choral conductor and teacher.Andrew Perkins was appointed Composer in Residence, APO, 1992...
- 1993 - Martin Lodge
- 1994 - Helen BowaterHelen BowaterHelen Bowater is a New Zealand composer. She was born in Wellington into a musical family, and studied piano and violin with Gwyneth Brown. In 1982 she graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree in music history and ethnomusicology from Victoria University of Wellington...
- 1995 - Nigel KeayNigel KeayNigel Keay was born in Palmerston North, New Zealand in 1955. He has been a freelance musician since 1983 working as a composer, violist, and violin teacher...
- 1996 - Jaz ColemanJaz ColemanJeremy "Jaz" Coleman is a musician, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer. He is notable for his vocal contributions to rock band Killing Joke...
- 1997 - Leonie Holmes
- 1998 - Jonathan Besser
- 1999 - David HamiltonDavid Hamilton (composer)David Hamilton was born in 1955 in Napier, New Zealand and is a contemporary composer.Hamilton was head of music at Epsom Girls' Grammar School in Auckland until 2001 but now spends much of his time on composing. He has composed well over 100 works for choirs with orchestra or organ...
- 2000 - Gillian WhiteheadGillian WhiteheadDame Gillian Karawe Whitehead, DNZM is a New Zealand composer.She studied at the University of Auckland from 1959–62, and Victoria University of Wellington in 1963, graduating BMus Hons in 1964. She then studied composition at the University of Sydney with Peter Sculthorpe from...
- 2001 - Gillian WhiteheadGillian WhiteheadDame Gillian Karawe Whitehead, DNZM is a New Zealand composer.She studied at the University of Auckland from 1959–62, and Victoria University of Wellington in 1963, graduating BMus Hons in 1964. She then studied composition at the University of Sydney with Peter Sculthorpe from...
- 2002 - John Rimmer
- 2003 - John Rimmer
- 2004 - Dylan Lardelli & Anthony Young
- 2005 - Ross Harris
- 2006 - Ross Harris
- 2007 - Gareth FarrGareth FarrGareth Vincent Farr ONZM is a New Zealand composer and percussionist. He has released a number of classical CDs and composed a number of works performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and Royal New Zealand Ballet...
& Karlo Margetic - 2008 - Gareth FarrGareth FarrGareth Vincent Farr ONZM is a New Zealand composer and percussionist. He has released a number of classical CDs and composed a number of works performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and Royal New Zealand Ballet...
& Karlo Margetic - 2009 - Chris Adams
- 2010 - John PsathasJohn PsathasJohn Psathas is a New Zealand composer, son of Greek immigrant parents.He has works in the repertoire of such high profile musicians as Evelyn Glennie, Michael Houstoun, Michael Brecker and the New Juilliard Ensemble, and is one of New Zealand's most frequently performed composers...
Auckland Town Hall
The orchestra is resident in the Auckland Town HallAuckland Town Hall
The Auckland Town Hall is a historic building on Queen Street in downtown Auckland, New Zealand, known both for its original and ongoing use for administrative functions , as well as for its famed Great Hall and its separate Concert Chamber...
, considered to have some of the finest acoustics
Acoustics
Acoustics is the interdisciplinary science that deals with the study of all mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician while someone working in the field of acoustics...
worldwide. The orchestra performs all of its main series concerts in the Great Hall and hosts chamber music concerts in the adjoined Concert Chamber.
External links
- Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra (official website)
- Eckehard Stier Official website of the APO's Music Director