Paekakariki

NEW ZEALAND STRING QUARTET

Paekakariki's Mulled Wine Concert series has been presenting top-class music in Kapiti for nearly twenty years. Organiser Mary Gow says she is really excited to be bringing to her home region one of the most well known and highest quality groups of classical musicians. The New Zealand String Quartet is probably the best loved chamber music ensemble in the country. It is made up of talented musicians who are all dedicated performers and mentors to students across the country. The longest-serving member of the Quartet, violinist Gillian Ansell, was awarded the MNZM (Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit) honour for services to music in New Zealand. The other permanent member is violinist Peter Clark.

As an exciting development in their history, and for the first time ever, the NZSQ have announced that two other positions in the group - violinist and cellist - will be filled by invited guest artists The invited musicians for the Paekakariki concert will be violinist Monique Lapins, who was previously a member of the NZSQ. The other invitee - who will be of great interest to followers of the Mulled Wine Concert series - is Andrew Joyce, dynamic first cellist of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. Andrew is no stranger to Kapiti audiences, having played in many concerts here.

As a group, the quartet promise that their 2025 season will be an epic one. "The rest of 2025 will be filled with toe-tapping, awe-inspiring, boundary-pushing chamber music. From epic works for chamber orchestra by Shostakovich to the premiere of a brand-new New Zealand piece; from dancers to poets; from your local community centre to the depths of space, we’re bringing the music to you", they say.

The Paekakariki concert will take place at St Peter's Hall on 16 March 2025 at 2:30PM and will feature works by Haydn, Dame Gillian Whitehead, Dave Flynn, Dvořák String Quartet No. 12, Op. 96, the 'American Quartet' and excerpts from the Danish String Quartet's "Wood Works / The Last Leaf". A concert not to be missed, indeed!