Into the Light
Starts at 8:00 pm on Thursday, 3 May 2012
Haydn, Brahms, Ross Harris (world première)
Direct from the Auckland Town Hall
A direct broadcast of “Into the Light” from the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, Li Wei Qin (cello) and Garry Walker (conductor).
Included in the programme, is Haydn’s Symphony No 44, Brahms’s First Symphony and the world première of Ross Harris’s Cello Concerto. This work specially written for Li-Wei Qin who has been described by one critic as “one of the most gifted cellists I have ever heard”. The work progresses from darkness to light and is paired with Brahms’s first symphony which similarly moves from a brooding beginning to a conclusion of triumph and redemption.
Ross Harris dabbled with the cello as a teenager. He was surprised when a teacher, impressed by the his progress with the tuba, thrust a cello at him. His teacher was convinced that the clearly gifted pupil would become a music educator himself. It would be good to know how strings worked, the teacher reasoned. However, after three years of practice, the cello was cast aside for other instruments and an interest in composition.
What followed was a 33-year career as a teacher of composition for Victoria University. Today, Harris is recognised as one of New Zealand’s foremost composers. He also happens to be one of our most prolific, penning inspired, award-winning works at an impressive pace – many of them for the APO, for whom Harris was Composer-in-Residence. It was only after witnessing a virtuosic performance of Haydn’s Cello Concerto No.1 by the Australian cellist Li-Wei that Harris was inspired to write this concerto.
(Source: Marc Laureano APO)
This concert will be broadcast direct from the Auckland Town Hall by Radio New Zealand
