Our 2022 Festival
For our fifth full Festival in 6 years (after the cancelled 2020 Festival) we planned to do something special.
We presented 5 concerts instead of the usual 4, and commissioned Wellington composer Tabea Squire to write a piano quintet to mark the occasion. Tabea’s quintet, Behind The Stars, A Dark Sky, was a nod to Martinborough’s bid to be declared a dark sky sanctuary. This was premiered on the Saturday afternoon and was recorded and filmed on the Monday after the Festival by RNZ Concert and SOUNZ for broadcast on air and online.
We also commissioned a celebratory take on the logo, taking its cue from the ancient Hindu Holi Festival which, among other things, marks the arrival of spring.
We heard 15 wonderful artists across the 3 days, including New York-based New Zealand lyric bass, Paul Whelan and 2 of this country’s legendary pianists, Diedre Irons and Michael Houstoun, in concert together for the first time in the Wairarapa.
Local teenage piano prodigy Benjamin Carter joined Australians Harry Bennetts and Thibaud Pavlovic-Hobba (violins), Christopher Moore (viola) and Phoebe Russell (double bass).
The New Zealand team were Wilma Smith and Virtuoso Strings alumnus, Toloa Faraimo (violins), Gillian Ansell (viola) and Matthias Balzat (cello) who returned from Düsseldorf for the Festival. They were joined by Douglas Mews (harpsichord), Michael Austin (oboe) and Damien Eckersley (double bass).
It was a fabulous fifth Festival. ‘The best yet … !’ said one of our loyal patrons in our annual audience survey. Highlights included Michael and Diedre’s stunning duo recital on Friday night, the Bottesini Gran Duo Concertante on Sunday morning given a stellar performance by Phoebe Russell and Harry Bennetts, and also the Shostakovich Piano Trio on the Saturday afternoon with the extraordinary 17-year old Wellington College student, Benjamin Carter.
Community outreach
We also expanded our schools programme, presenting 6 concerts to students from 11 Wairarapa schools — double the number of concerts and nearly 4 times the number of schools compared to our inaugural year.
The concerts were presented by students from the New Zealand School of Music at Te Herenga Waka-Victoria University of Wellington. We toured a brass quintet and a string quartet with music from Vivaldi, Mozart and Shostakovich through to John Williams’ movie music and a bit of rap featuring a volunteer from the primary school audience!
The 2022 Music and Musicians
Friday 23 September 7.30pm
Schubert Fantasia in F minor, D.940
Bizet Jeux d’enfants, Op.22
Mozart Sonata for Two Pianos in D major, K.448
Rachmaninoff Suite No 1 in G minor, Op.5 Barcarolle
Lutoslawski Variations on a Theme by Paganini
Saturday 24 September 2pm
Shostakovich Piano Trio No 2 in E minor, Op.67
Tabea Squire Behind the stars, a dark sky (world premiere)
Behind the stars … — SOUNZ Youtube
Dvořák Piano Quintet No 2 in A major, Op.81
Saturday 24 September 7.30pm
Johann Sebastian Bach Ich habe genug, BWV 82
Imogen Holst Phantasy Quartet
Franz Schubert An die Musik
Richard Strauss String Sextet from Capriccio, Op.85
Brahms Vier ernste Gesänge Op.121
Sunday 25 September 11.00am
Bottesini Gran Duo Concertante
Mendelssohn Piano Sextet in D major, Op.110
Nadia Boulanger Trois Pièces for cello and piano
Bruch String Octet in B flat major
Sunday 25 September 3pm
Grieg Holberg Suite, Op.40
Samuel Barber Dover Beach
Aaron Copland At the River
Richard Strauss Metamorphosen for string septet
Bach Brandenburg Concerto No 3 in G major, BWV 1048
The Musicians
Paul Whelan, bass baritone
Diedre Irons, piano
Michael Houstounm piano
Benjamin Carter, piano and cello
Harry Bennetts, violin
Wilma Smith, violin
Toloa Faraimo, violin
Thibaud Pavlovic-Hobba, violin and viola
Christopher Moore, viola
Gillian Ansell, viola
Matthias Balzat, cello
Phoebe Russell, double bass