Our 2020 Festival

The 2020 festival became a Covid casualty. We held out as long as we could but at the end of June — with 5 of our 8 musicians stuck overseas — we had to pull the plug.

Instead we organised 2 replacement concerts held on Sunday 4 October. The 2 different, but equally alluring, programmes featured the wonderful pianist Diedre Irons.

Joining Diedre for these 2 concerts were some of New Zealand’s finest resident string players — Monique Lapins and Vesa-Matti Leppänen (violins), Nicholas Hancox and Gillian Ansell (violas) and Andrew Joyce and Ken Ichinose (cellos).

The concerts were, again, a triumph. One of the audience posted on Facebook, ‘… multiple shivers down my spine’. ‘Stylish, passionate and thrilling chamber music,’ posted another.

Diedre Irons pianist
Diedre Irons (Photo: Debbie Rawson)
Marion Townend, Brendan Smyth and Andrew Morrison from the organising team holding up a sign with the 2020 logo on it
Organisers Marion Townend, Brendan Smyth and Andrew Morrison keeping the 2020 Festival afloat
Chair of the Martinborough Music Festival Trust, Ed Allen celebrating the Festival launch
Chair of the Martinborough Music Festival Trust, Ed Allen celebrating the Festival launch

Outreach in 2020

Every year, the Martinborough Music Festival organises schools visits as part of our community outreach programme.

In 2020, we brought together a group of string players from the New Zealand School of Music at Victoria University of Wellington who visited Martinborough School, Kuranui College in Greytown and Wairarapa College in Masterton on 19 October to introduce the pupils to chamber and classical music in an engaging and interactive way.

The string quintet from the New Zealand School of Music
The string quintet from the New Zealand School of Music prepare to perform
String quintet performing at Martinborough School
Students at Martinborough School turned out in force for the concert
A violinist showing children from Martinborough school her instrument
The musicians let the students see their instruments up close

The 2020 Music and Musicians

Sunday 4 October 11am

Ernő Dohnányi Serenade in C major, Op. 10 (1902)
Sergei Rachmaninoff Trio élégiaque No. 1 in G minor (1892)
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Souvenir de Florence Op. 70 (1890)

Sunday 4 October 5pm

Antonín Dvořák Terzetto in C Op. 74 (1887)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Quintet in G minor, K. 516 (1787)
Johannes Brahms Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34 (1864)

The musicians

Diedre Irons, piano
Monique Lapins, violin
Vesa-Matti Leppänen, violin
Nicholas Hancox, viola
Gillian Ansell, viola
Andrew Joyce, cello
Ken Ichinose, cello