1 May 2015

Christian Lindberg: NZSO

From Upbeat, 2:00 pm on 1 May 2015

World-leading trombonist and conductor Christian Lindberg is presenting Jan Sandström's Echoes of Eternity with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.

Christian Lindberg

If enthusiasm is contagious, Christian Lindberg is an epidemic waiting to happen. Joining exceptional technique with exuberant theatricality, this Swedish trombonist-composer has more fun in a single piece than most musicians do in a season...he is a potent antidote to the stuffiness that still passes for seriousness at many a concert.

- Star Tribune, Minneapolis

Christian Lindberg met with some resistance when he decided to become the first professional solo trombonist in history. Agents told him that they’d have to be incredibly drunk before they’d sit through a trombone recital.

“The more resistance I got, the more I pushed.”

Christian was undeterred though and went on to be voted ‘brass player of the century alongside Miles Davis and Louis Armstrong. But his contribution is greater than his virtuosity: the BBC declared him the “best thing that’s ever happened to the trombone.”

“I’ve had 96 trombone concertos written for me”

In this interview with Clarissa Dunn, Christian Lindberg talks about the father of the jazz trombone, Jack Teagarden, changing the culture of classical music, rollerblading in Wellington…and those infamous leather pants!

Christian Lindberg is here to perform the Aotearoa Plus concerts with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, joining their own principal trombonist David Bremner for Echoes of Eternity, a new double concerto by Jan Sandström, and conducting the orchestra in two New Zealand works: Douglas Lilburn’s Symphony No. 2 and a new work, Michael Norris’ Claro.