We’re pleased to announce the winners of our 2025 Composing Competition for tertiary students.
Cameron Monteath – (blue) print
Lauren Doherty – Clouds // Coastline
Mallory Elmo – Dreamhouse / reißend verteilte Dreamhouse
Estella Wallace – In the Light of
Justin Villaflores – On second thought
Milutin Jovic – Porous Pavilions
Wayne Gao – Gothic
This year’s brief was to create a new work for piano trio, inspired by the quote attributed to Goethe: “Music is liquid architecture, architecture is frozen music”. We held workshops at the University of Auckland, Victoria University of Wellington and the University of Canterbury on a selection of works from the entries. The works were presented and discussed, and feedback was offered, at which point the candidates had the opportunity to tweak and adjust their works before final submission.
In collaboration with New Zealand composer Janet Jennings, we selected the following winning works to be performed at the Winners’ Concert on 28 Sept, 6pm at the University of Auckland Music Theatre (entry by koha). We are hugely grateful to our friends the Freemasons Foundation for supporting the competition.
DATE AND VENUE
28 September 6pm
University of Auckland Music Theatre, 6 Symonds St
No bookings required – entry by koha
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ON TOUR OCTOBER
THE PROGRAMME
Elena Kats-Chernin | The Spirit and the Maiden
Salina Fisher | Kintsugi
Amy Beach | 2 Songs Op. 100 A Mirage and Stella Viatoris
Sergei Rachmaninoff | Vocalise
Richard Strauss (arr. Salina Fisher) | Four Last Songs (Vier letzte Lieder) TrV 296
Composed in the year before his passing, the Four Last Songs are held by many to be Richard Strauss’ most beautiful, sensuous, and moving composition.
DATES AND VENUES
ANNOUNCING OUR NEW CELLIST
NZTrio He Taonga Wairere are thrilled to announce the appointment of new permanent cellist, Matthias Balzat.
Matthias, an award-winning performer, brings a wealth of local and international performing experience to the trio’s next chapter.
Hypnotique presents a diverse array of works that challenges expectations of traditional chamber music. A whirlwind of motion typifies NZ composer Lyell Cresswell’s virtuosic Moto Perpetuo, ahead of the percussive and electronic influences in Le Boeuf’s jazz-adjacent Obliquely Wrecked. Fauré’s Piano Trio in D minor exhibits lyrical elegance, with transportative, lush harmonic textures, and Australian composer Elena Kats-Chernin pays homage to Haydn, blending classical and contemporary styles in Calliope Dreaming. Then finally, the full Romantic immersion of Schönberg’s Verklärte Nacht is structured around the five stanzas of a poem; deeply transcendent and utterly beautiful.
THE PROGRAMME
Lyell Cresswell (NZ) | Moto perpetuo
Pascal Le Boeuf | Obliquely Wrecked
Gabriel Fauré | Piano Trio in D minor, Op. 120
Elena Kats-Chernin | Calliope Dreaming
Arnold Schönberg | Verklärte Nacht arr. for piano trio
DATES AND VENUES
Visit our events page to see when we’ll be near you.
NZTrio is recognised as a ‘national treasure’ and ‘New Zealand’s most indispensable ensemble’ (NZ Herald).
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MERGE
Featuring superb compositions by Christos Hatzis, Salina Fisher, Josef Suk and Erich Korngold, Merge is an amalgamation of NZTrio’s individual musical personalities both on and off the stage, expressed through our shared love of chamber music. “We feel very lucky to be sharing our joyful, creative and collaborative experience of recording this album with you during this particularly bewildering time. As we all navigate this ever-changing world, constantly looking to the future and the past, we hope this music gives you a chance to appreciate some beauty in the present moment.”
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