Friday 28 – Sunday 30 March 2025
A three-day musical project that brings professionals together with our musicians of the future to connect, learn, and inspire.
Experience an unforgettable afternoon of music as String Together: The Concert with NZTrio & Friends premieres on Sunday 30 March, uniting young talent and top musicians in the stunning, restored Great Hall of Kāhui St David’s.
Celebrate and support the next generation of performers as they share the stage with some of New Zealand’s finest musicians. Featuring NZTrio He Taonga Wairere, New Zealand’s premier piano trio ensemble, and friends - young talent from Tironui Music Trust, Sistema Aotearoa, and the University of Auckland School of Music students.
Programme includes:
NZTrio perform John Psathas’ Tarantismo (Helix)
Tironui String Quartet perform Haydn's String Quartet Opus 76 No.3
NZTrio with University of Auckland rising star Irene Kim perform Mahler's Piano Quartet
The crescendo of the concert includes Peter Warlock’s dramatic Mattachins (Sword Dance) from the Capriol Suite, Samoan Le Aute composed by Ester Temukisa Laban-Alama, traditional Irish polka Britches Full of Stitches and the Scottish Farewell to Stromness composed by Peter Maxwell Davies.
The concert marks the grand finale of a three-day intensive programme, where students of all ages refine their skills under the guidance of industry professionals.
Set in the stunning Kāhui St David’s, an architectural jewel renowned for its breathtaking acoustics, this event showcases the power of music to inspire and connect generations.
Events
Masterclasses – for students of music
Friday 28 – Saturday 29 March 2025
Please contact us for more information at
contact@kahuiStDavids.nz
String Together
The Concert | NZTrio & Friends
Sunday 30 March 2025
3pm-4.15pm
Join us for an inspiring celebration of music. Buy your ticket for the concert & support young musicians.
Adults $25
Students $15
Children Free
Purchase your tickets via Eventfinda below.
Programme
I. NZTrio
Ashley Brown (cello), Somi Kim (piano) and Lara Hall (guest violin).
John Psathas – Tarantismo (Helix)
John Psathas ONZM (1966) is a New Zealand Greek composer whose music receives acclaim worldwide. Tarantismo is a rapid, whirling dance based on the same legend that created the tarantella, the idea of dancing faster and faster to get to get the poison of the tarantula spider out of your system.
Tarantismo is the final movement of Helix, a 3-movement work inspired by and infused with the rhythms and melodies of Greek folk music. The work was commissioned by NZTrio in 2006 with support from the University of Auckland.
II. University of Auckland
Madeleine Xiao
Frédéric Chopin – Piano Sonata No.3 in B minor, Op.58 - I. Allegro maestoso
Chopin (1810-1849) was a Polish composer and pianist of the Romantic era. He composed his third piano sonata in 1844, during the later years of his life. The first movement opens with a bold, sweeping theme that sets up for a dramatic and expansive sonata form. Chopin weaves intricate passage work with deeply expressive melodies, combining both turbulence and passion.
III. Tironui String Quartet
Maya Veele and Reese Moses (violin), Faith Fili (viola), Ella-Mae Kwan-Him (cello)
Joseph Haydn – String Quartet Opus 76 No. 3
Haydn (1732 -1809) was an Austrian composer who was one of the most important figures in the development of the Classical style in music during the 18th century. The six String Quartets, Op. 76, were composed in 1797 or 1798 and dedicated to the Hungarian count Joseph Georg von Erdódy (1754–1824). They form the last complete set of string quartets that Haydn composed, and are among Haydn's most ambitious, with seamless and near-continual exchange of motifs between instruments.
IV. Sistema Aotearoa String Quartet
Emily McGregor (violin), Rita Kirisome-Mahe (viola), Mavaeao Tua and Brian Wilson (cello)
Robert Schumann - An den Sonnenschein
Schumann (1880 – 1856) was a German composer and pianist of the early Romantic era. An den n Sonnenschein is one of 6 poems by Robert Reinick taken from Das Liederbuch eines Malers (The Painter's Songbook) that Schumann put to music in the early 1840s. This song is an ode to sunshine, the protagonist sings of his yearning for the sunshine.
V. NZTrio with University of Auckland music student Irene Kim Gustav Mahler – Piano Quartet in A minor
Mahler (1860 –1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and conductor. Mahler began work on the Piano Quartet towards the end of his first year at the Vienna Conservatory, when he was around 15 or 16 years of age. The piece had its first performance on July 10, 1876.
VI. The play-in
Peter Warlock – Mattachins (Sword Dance) from the Capriol Suite. The composer (1894 – 1930) was a British composer who wrote this suite, a set of dances, in 1926.
Ester Temukisa Laban-Alama – Le’Aute Samoan-born (1949), Samoan-New Zealand composer, this piece celebrates the beauty of Samoa with hibiscus and frangipani flowers.
Britches Full of Stitches A traditional Irish polka
Peter Maxwell Davies – Farewell to Stromness. The composer (1934 – 2016) was an English composer, who wrote this piece as a protest against a proposed uranium mine on the remote Orkney Islands where the composer lives.
Project Partners
NZTrio He Taonga Wairere
Described as a “national treasure” and “New Zealand’s most indispensable ensemble” (William Dart, NZ Herald), NZTrio He Taonga Wairere is renowned for its eclectic repertoire, outstanding talent and warm kiwi stage presence. Bringing together three incredibly accomplished artists: Amalia Hall (violin), Ashley Brown (cello) and Somi Kim (piano), every NZTrio performance powerfully reaffirms the importance and cathartic nature of a live musical experience in today’s digital world. Expect to be affected.
& Friends
Sistema Aotearoa
Sistema Aotearoa works to unleash the potential of tamariki, whānau and communities through orchestral music making. Based in Ōtara for 15 years, the programme works with more than 20 partner primary schools and early childhood centres and runs an afterschool music programme for 400 students. The programme is delivered by qualified senior teachers, academically qualified musicians, professional performers, rangatahi alumni tutors and youth development staff.
Based at the Ōtara Music and Arts Centre, our free, intensive, ensemble-based music lessons are inclusive and aim to tear down barriers to music education, providing support and musical pathways for the hardworking, creative and talented tamariki and rangatahi of south Tāmaki Makaurau. Special thanks to Sarah Spence, Music Director.
Tironui Music Trust is committed to empowering young New Zealanders through the transformative potential of music education. We provide fully funded instrumental music programmes to students with limited access to musical opportunities, fostering discipline, self-assurance, and a lifelong appreciation for music. Our programme supports young New Zealanders in Papatoetoe and Mt Wellington, South Auckland in seven partner primary schools and continues to support ākonga at Intermediate and High Schools. We offer a comprehensive String, Band, Musicianship and Scholarship programme, providing musical pathways and access to instrumental tuition for those who might otherwise not have the opportunity to learn.Special thanks to Rod Skipp, Manager.
University of Auckland School of Music
The University of Auckland School of Music, New Zealand's largest tertiary music school, offers a dynamic environment for studying and investigating a wide range of
musical disciplines, including performance, composition, musicology, music education, popular music, and jazz.
The School of Music offers a Bachelor of Music (BMus) with specializations in Creative Practice (Classical, Jazz, Composition, Popular Music) and Music Studies.
Postgraduate programs are available in various music disciplines, including classical performance, jazz performance, popular music, composition, sonic art, musicology, music education, studio pedagogy, and ethno-musicology. Special thanks to Mark Bennett and James Yoo.
Performing in the play-in: Joey Fordham, Chisato Aida, Darren Breeze, Amy Chen, Lydia Zhu, Romy Jiang (violin); Irene Kim, Sunny Chung (viola); Kate Xu (cello); Feiyang Wu (Double Bass).
Video Credit: Video by Conan Fitzpatrick with Archie Lamont-Bowden playing Czardas by Vittoriio Monti
Stringing together generations of chamber musicians
Four years ago, an old Presbyterian church on the fringe of Auckland's CBD was saved from demolition and bought by a charitable trust.
It has been a labour of love, but in 2024, Kāhui St David's reopened to the public as a community arts space.
String Together is a three-day celebration of chamber music taking place in Kāhui St David's this weekend.
It's bringing together the legendary NZ Trio with a team of young aspiring musicians, from university scholars to primary-aged children, to collaborate and workshop, culminating in a public concert this Sunday.
Paul Baragwanath, the director of Kāhui St David's speaks to Emile Donovan.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank the following individuals and organisations for their generous support in making String Together 2025 possible:
Guest speaker the Hon Paul Goldsmith, Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage
Musicians and whānau
Volunteers including our Trustees Renée Tanner of Lightbox Projects
You, for your presence! Thank you for your support. We really appreciate it.
Project Partners
Project Patrons
