Robbie’s arbitrarily selective list of “new music” in 2013

Many performing arts organisations released their 2013 programmes this month, including APO, CMNZ and NZSO (in chronological order). I have combed their offerings to assemble a list of “new music” you can hear next year, if you’re interested in such things.

Classification of what “new music” is is entirely arbitrary. An asterisk * indicates a world première. Unless noted, all dates are the Auckland performances, because that’s where I’m living next year and this list is primarily for my benefit. My arbitrariness extends to a level of laziness sufficient not to chronicle the entire country.

Also, lots of organisations with smaller budgets are yet to announce their programmes. No, I probably won’t keep updating this list as they do.

(Added 1 November: Auckland Arts Festival.)
(Added 6 November: Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, even though they’re coming nowhere near Auckland.)
(Added 7 November: Michael Hill International Violin Competition, with its NZ test piece.)
(Added 16 November: the Adam Chamber Music Festival in Nelson. Quite a lot of “new” music there.)

New Zealand “New Music” Composers’ Music

What I most want to see: Jack Body’s expansion/reworking of his  Carmen Dances from 2002. Pity I’ll be in the USA in March. (Photo: apo.co.nz)

* Chris Adams: Mahuika (Nicholas Sutcliffe, APO/Hamish McKeich – 23 May)
Christopher Blake: Till Human Voices Wake Us (James Egglestone, NZSO/Tecwyn Evans – 24 April, Wellington only)
Jack Body: Arum Manis (Kronos Quartet – 11-14 March, WN CH & DN only)
* Jack Body: Songs and Dances of Desire (Norio Sato, Xiao Ma, Anna Pierard, APO/Kenneth Young – 8 March)
* Jack Body: [new work for solo violin] (Michael Hill International Violin Competition semi-finalists – 2-3 July, Queenstown)
* Claire Cowan: [new work for piano trio] (NZTrio – 8 May)
Lyell Cresswell: Concerto for piano and orchestra (Stephen De Pledge, CSO/Benjamin Northey – 23 March, CH)
Phil Dadson: MAYA (CSO/Tecwyn Evans – 16 Feb, CH)
* Eve de Castro-Robinson: the glittering hosts of heaven (NZSO/Pietari Inkinen – 21 June)
* Robbie Ellis: Relish in Immature Bombast (Tim Noon, Jono Sawyer, APO/Hamish McKeich – 23 May) THAT’S ME 🙂
David Farquhar: Short Suite from Ring Round the Moon (NZSO/Tecwyn Evans – 12-19 October, Wellington, Otago & Southland only)
* Gao Ping: The Mountain (CSO/Benjamin Northey – 23 March, CH)
Gao Ping: Su Xie Si Ti – Four Sketches (NZTrio – 24 March)
Gareth Farr: Ahi (NZTrio – 8 February, Nelson)
Gareth Farr: The Nor’West Arch (CSO/Tom Woods – 31 August, CH)
* Gareth Farr: [new work for string quartet] (Goldner String Quartet – 3 October)
(*) Gareth Farr/Richard Nunns: Ngā Kete o Toru (Horomona Horo, NZTrio – 24 March)
* David Hamilton: Chimera (John Wells, APO/Hamish McKeich – 23 May)
* Ben Hoadley: Huia (Indra Hughes, APO/Hamish McKeich – 23 May)
* Samuel Holloway: [new work] (some or all of Jack Liebeck, Victoria Sayles, Julia Joyce, Andrew Joyce & Stephen De Pledge – 15-31 July, closest is Hamilton)
Ross Harris: Chaconne for solo viola (Gillian Ansell – 2 February, Nelson)
* Ross Harris: String Quartet No 5, Songs from Childhood (New Zealand String Quartet – 6 February, Nelson)
* Ross Harris: Symphony No 5 (Sally-Anne Russell, APO/Eckehard Stier – 15 August)
* Ross Harris: [new work for flute, saxophone & piano] (Rebecca Steele, Debbie Rawson & Diedre Irons – 2-9 March, closest is Hamilton)
* Martin Jaenecke: Meditation (instrumentation TBA – 8 February, Nelson)
* Victoria Kelly: Toi Huarewa/Suspended Way (Horomona Horo, NZTrio – 24 March)
Douglas Lilburn: Drysdale Overture (APO/Nicholas Altstaedt – 5 September)
* Jenny McLeod: [new song cycle] (Jenny Wollerman & Emma Sayers – 6 February, Nelson)
* Philip Norman: Mahy (Juliet Reynolds, Tainui Kuru, CSO/Kenneth Young – 4 May, CH)
Larry Pruden: Soliloquy for strings (NZSO/Pietari Inkinen – 12 April)
John Psathas: Abisheka (New Zealand String Quartet – 9 February, Nelson)
John Psathas: Helix (NZTrio – 6 February, Nelson)
John Psathas: Orpheus in Rarohenga (Jenny Wollerman, Paul Whelan, Orpheus Choir of Wellington, NZSO/Tecwyn Evans – 25 May)
John Ritchie: String Quartet (Penderecki String Quartet – 6 February, Nelson)
Craig Utting arr. Owen Moriarty: Onslow Suite, 2nd mvt (New Zealand Guitar Quartet – 9 February, Nelson)
* Ed Ware: Duo for saxophone & viola (Martin & Victoria Jaenecke – 8 February, Nelson)
* Ryan Youens: Tiraki (Nicholas Forbes, APO/Hamish McKeich – 23 May)
* Anthony Young: Thirteen – Theme and Variations (Rachael Griffiths-Hughes, APO/Hamish McKeich – 23 May)

Living Foreign “New Music” Composers’ Music

What I most want to see: Kalevi Aho’s piano concerto is fifty-odd minutes of childlike play. I can only imagine what his percussion concerto with Colin Currie will be like. (Photo: fennicagehrman.fi)

John Adams: Harmonielehre (NZSO/Tecwyn Evans – 25 May)
Thomas Adès: Three Studies from Couperin (APO/Garry Walker – 30 May)
Kalevi Aho: Sieidi (Colin Currie, NZSO/Osmo Vänskä – 13 July)
Sérgio Assad: Uacarena (New Zealand Guitar Quartet – 9 February, Nelson)
Chen Yi: Tibetan Tunes (NZTrio – 24 March)
Ross Edwards: Symphony No 1, Da pacem Domine (NZSO/Tecwyn Evans – 24 April, Wellington only)
Marc Eychenne: Cantilène et Danse (Rebecca Steele, Debbie Rawson & Diedre Irons – 2-9 March, closest is Hamilton)
Sofia Gubaidulina: Lied ohne Worte (TBA who… probably Martin Jaenecke on saxophone, but it’s a trumpet & piano piece? – 8 February, Nelson)
Christos Hatzis: Quartet (Penderecki String Quartet – 9 February, Nelson)
Ian Krouse: Antique Suite after Neusidler (New Zealand Guitar Quartet – 9 February, Nelson)
Ram Narayan (arr Kronos transc. Ljova): Raga Mishra Bhairavi: Alap (Kronos Quartet – 11-14 March, WN CH & DN only)
Arvo Pärt: Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten (NZSO/Osmo Vänskä – 13 July)
Einojuhani Rautavaara: Cantus Arcticus (APO/Eckehard Stier – 7 November)
Steve Reich: WTC 9/11 (Kronos Quartet – 9 March)
Wolfgang Rihm: String Quartet No 11 (Minguet Quartet – 3 February, Nelson)
Paul Schoenfield: Café Music (NZTrio – 8 February, Nelson)
Bright Sheng: Four Movements for piano trio (NZTrio – 8 May)
Valentyn Silvestrov: String Quartet No 3 (Kronos Quartet – 11-14 March, WN CH & DN only)
Tan Dun: Ghost Opera (Wu Man & Kronos Quartet – 9 March)
Tan Dun: Martial Arts Trilogy (Ryu Goto, Tan Wei, Yingdi Sun, NZSO/Tan Dun – 15 February)
Mark-Anthony Turnage: Scherzoid (APO/Eckehard Stier – 21 February)
Aleksandra Vrebalov: …hold me, neighbor, in this storm… (Kronos Quartet – 11-14 March, WN CH & DN only)
Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Piano Trio (NZTrio – 8 May)
Wu Man/David Harrington/Chen Shi-Zheng: A Chinese Home (Wu Man & Kronos Quartet – 9 March)

Dead Foreign “New Music” Composers’ Music

What I most want to see: The Rake’s Progress. How badass is the APO for putting that on? (Picture: wikipedia.org)

Alexander Arutiunian: Trumpet Concerto (Brent Grapes, APO/Eckehard Stier – 28 February)
Béla Bartók: Music for strings, percussion and celesta (APO/Rory Macdonald – 4 July)
Béla Bartók: Rhapsody No 1 for violin & piano (Douglas Beilman & Péter Nágy – 7 February, Nelson)
Béla Bartók: String Quartet No 5 (Penderecki String Quartet – 7 February, Nelson)
Béla Bartók: String Quartet No  6 (Tokyo String Quartet – 14 June)
Leonard Bernstein: West Side Story Symphonic Dances (CSO/Tom Woods – 23 November)
Benjamin Britten: Violin Concerto (Kolja Blacher, NZSO/Lawrence Renes – 28 September)
Benjamin Britten: Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra (NZSO/Joana Carneiro – 8 November)
Benjamin Britten: War Requiem (Orla Boylan, Timothy Robinson, Ivan Ludlow, Voices NZCC/Karen Grylls, APO/Eckehard Stier – 23 March)
Paul Hindemith: Cello Concerto (Johannes Moser, APO/Michał Dworzyński – 16 May)
Zoltán Kodály: Dances of Galánta (APO/Nicholas Collon – 20 June)
Erich Korngold: Piano Trio (NZTrio – 2-16 May, closest is Hamilton)
Erich Korngold: Symphony in F# (APO/Eckehard Stier – 1 August)
György Ligeti: Trio for horn, violin & piano (Robert Johnson, Helene Pohl & Péter Nágy – 3 February, Nelson)
Bohuslav Martinů: Julietta Suite (APO/Eckehard Stier – 1 August)
Bohuslav Martinů: Madrigal Stanzas (Jack Liebeck & Stephen De Pledge – 22 July)
Ástor Piazzolla: Four Seasons of Buenos Aires (CSO/Tom Woods – 25 May CH, 26 May TIM)
Francis Poulenc: Flute Sonata (Rebecca Steele & Diedre Irons – 2-9 March, closest is Hamilton)
Francis Poulenc: Les Biches Suite (APO/Eckehard Stier – 24 October)
Arnold Schoenberg: Pelleas und Melisande (APO/Eckehard Stier – 25 July)
Arnold Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht (APO/Eckehard Stier – 14 November)
Alexander Scriabin: Symphony No 4, Poem of Ecstasy (NZSO/Pietari Inkinen – 22 March, Wellington only)
Alexander Scriabin: Twelve Preludes (Péter Nágy – 2 February, Nelson)
Igor Stravinsky: The Firebird, 1919 version (CSO/Benjamin Northey – 23 March, CH)
Igor Stravinsky: The Rake’s Progress (Andrew Goodwin, Madeleine Pierard, Paul Whelan, Liane Keegan, Helen Medlyn, Chapman Tripp Opera Chorus/John Rosser, APO/Eckehard Stier – 9 August)
Igor Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring (CSO/Tom Woods – 31 August, CH) START A BLOODY RIOT
Igor Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring (APO/Eckehard Stier – 14 November) START A BLOODY RIOT Take 2
Igor Stravinsky: The Soldier’s Tale (Julia Milsom, Emma Johnston, George Parker, CSO/Hamish McKeich & Peter Falkenberg – 18 & 19 September, CH)
Jenő Takács: Two Fantastics (Debbie Rawson & Diedre Irons – 2-9 March, closest is Hamilton)
Heitor Villa-Lobos: Assobio a Jato (Bridget Douglas & Rolf Gjelsten – 2 February, Nelson)
Kurt Weill: Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny Suite (APO/Eckehard Stier – 24 October)
Kurt Weill: The Threepenny Opera Suite (APO/Eckehard Stier – 24 October)

Also

– The Penderecki Quartet in Nelson Lakes National Park (5 February) – includes works by Erwin Schulhoff & Marjan Mozetich
– Richard Nunns at the Adam Chamber Music Festival in the morning, and in the evening with Whirimako Black (6 February)
– Wu Man at the Auckland Arts Festival (10 March) – lots of major composers have written for pipa for her
– NZSO National Youth Orchestra/Richard Gill (31 August) – includes “NZSO Todd Corporation Young Composer Awards Commission”
– APO Sanctuary Series: Percussion & Friends (7 & 9 October) – likely to include “new music”
– The Tallis Scholars (23 October) – performing works by John Tavener & Arvo Pärt.