Upcoming community events

Programme: Russell Peterson: Quintet for Alto Saxophone and Strings Max Richter: On the Nature of Daylight (string quartet) Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Quintet for Saxophone and Strings W A Mozart: String Quartet, K 590 Astor Piazzolla: Winter and Spring from The Four Seasons The Amici Ensemble have played in Waikanae every year since 2000 and even occasionally before that. Each time they delight by being different - different combinations of musicians, of instruments and repertoire, with interesting and innovative programmes and popular returns of the great chamber classics. This year, a string quartet of Donald Armstrong, Anna van der Zee (violins), Nicholas Hancox (viola) and Andrew Joyce (cello) will be joined by Simon Brew on saxophone. The audience will be introduced to an enterprising mix of new and familiar composers. While embracing their classical origins, these composers will bring the evocative sounds, catchy rhythms and soaring melodies that this combination lends itself to. Russell Peterson’s colourful quintet seems to seamlessly blend jazz and classical elements. Popular composer Max Richter is well known for his film music. His "On the Nature of Daylight" - scored for string quartet - is peaceful and deeply moving. Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, one of America's most frequently played and genuinely popular living composers, was the first female composer to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music. Her lively quintet explores all the sonorities available from the combination of saxophone and strings. A return to the well-known and loved classical masters comes in the form of Mozart’s final string quartet - his longest and arguably his greatest quartet. And to close the concert, a composer who, in his own way, found a truly distinctive voice by blending classical music with Argentinian tango. The quintet will delight with the evocative sounds of "Winter" and "Spring" from Astor Piazzolla's "Four Seasons In Buenos Aires".