Turnovsky Jubilee Ensemble Programme.pdf

1Turnovsky Jubilee Ensemble

TURNOVSKYJUBILEEENSEMBLE

CHAMBER MUSIC NEW ZEALAND presents

Concert Programme

OnePerformed in 10 of the 15

centres. For Concert

Programme Two see

page 17

We would like to thank our Jubilee patrons for their generosity and support:Core Patron:Sir James Wallace KNZM

Gold Jubilee Patrons:Paul and Sheryl Baines, Donald and Susan Best, Philip and Rosalind BurdonGraeme and Di Edwards, Ann Harden (in memory of Joan Kerr) Tom and Ann Morris, Roger and Catherine Taylor, Lloyd Williams and Cally McWhaDavid and the late Helen Zwartz

Join us in giving the gift of chamber music to young New Zealanders by donating to the 50th Jubilee Appeal (1965-2015).

As a not for profi t charity we relyon your generous donations.

Phone us on 0800 CONCERT Email us at: [email protected] to donate online visit:chambermusic.co.nz/support-us

2015 NZCTCHAMBER MUSIC CONTEST

NZ

COM

MU

NITY

TRU

ST

With your help we can ensure thefuture of theContest

Regional Finals: 20-21 June(in Auckland, Napier, Christchurch)

National Finals Weekend: 1-2 August (in Wellington)

For more information visit chambermusic.co.nz

Cheer on the future stars of chamber

music at the50th Jubilee

Chamber Music Contest.

Chamber Music New Zealand


Kia ora

The Auckland concert is being recorded for live broadcast by Radio NZ Concert

The Turnovsky Jubilee Ensemble tour is, in many ways, the signature event in Chamber Music New Zealand’s 2015 season, since this year we celebrate 50 years of the secondary schools’ NZCT Chamber Music Contest. What the Turnovsky Ensemble demonstrates is that many of the young musicians who we will be hearing in the finals at the beginning of August will be prominent in our musical scene in the years to come. Not all, of course, will end up in the profession. Some will find their adult concert-going experiences enriched by knowing what it’s like to be out there on stage with their friends at the end of a sustained period of rehearsal. I find it inspiring that Chamber Music New Zealand can trace musical careers like this. It

is wonderful to be providing a platform for young talent and then to follow that talent through into sophisticated professional ensembles.

The Turnovsky Ensemble embraces recent Contest alumni like Bryony Gibson-Cornish and Natalie Lin through to some of our most established and well-loved musicians like Victoria Jones, Bridget Douglas and, of course, the ensemble’s director, Wilma Smith. I am writing this the day after the Wellington version of our Open Stage event which covered an even wider age span from 10-year-old Sophia Hardie (playing flute with her parents and sister) to the 82-year-old Lola Austin, who made the first ever classical LP in New Zealand and who is still an excellent pianist (miraculously so, given the ravages of arthritis in her hands). This span is something quite special about chamber music as a performing and listening activity.

It is so right that our Jubilee Ensemble has the Turnovsky name attached. The Turnovsky family have done enormous amounts for music in Aotearoa and, particularly, for Chamber Music New Zealand. Fred Turnovsky was one of our founders and was actively engaged until his death. (He was a forceful personality and his views played a large part in shaping the CMNZ that we know today.) Fred’s daughter Helen has been a member of the CMNZ Trust board and is now a trustee for the CMNZ Foundation. The Turnovsky Endowment Trust provides substantial support every year – and we are very grateful for that.

I do hope that you enjoy this very special concert.

Peter Walls

Chief Executive,


Message from theTurnovsky Endowment Trust.

Fred Turnovsky, who arrived in New Zealand in 1940, was a member of a small group of refugees from Europe who influenced immeasurably our cultural life. Having grown up in Prague, one of the undisputed cultural centres of Europe, he was struck by the fact that professional music, which he had taken for granted, did not appear to exist in his adopted country. With his drive and dedication he set about, in a positive and practical way, to foster the Arts, especially music. In collaboration with other music enthusiasts he established what we call today Chamber Music New Zealand and, consequently, the Chamber Music Contest.He also established the Turnovsky Endowment Trust, which has, over a period of many years, generously supported the Arts. Fred died in 1994, but his family, in wishing to fulfil his vision of a strong cultural environment, continues to foster the Arts through the Turnovsky Endowment Trust.

We hope you enjoy this performance by the Turnovsky Jubilee Ensemble in this 50th year of the Chamber Music Contest. A fitting celebration of all the New Zealand musical talent that has been nurtured and supported over the years. Helen PhilpottTrusteeTurnovsky Endowment Trust

Chamber Music New Zealand2

Chamber Music New Zealand gratefully acknowledges the support of the University of

Auckland School of Music in providing the harpsichord of the Auckland performance.

We also thank the National Library of New Zealand for supplying the printed music used

in this performance

ProgrammeBach Brandenburg Concerto No 3 in G BWV1048 page 8Britten Simple Symphony Opus 4 page 9Lilburn Allegro for Strings page 10

interval

Mendelssohn Octet in E flat Opus 20 page 11

Whangarei 2 June

Hamilton 3 June

Gisborne 5 June

Napier 7 June

New Plymouth 9 June

Auckland 12 June

Wanganui 14 June

Upper Hutt 15 June

Palmerston North 17 June

Nelson 19 June

3

WILMA SMITH director, violin

JUSTINE CORMACK violin, viola

LARA HALL violin

NATALIE LIN violin

GILLIAN ANSELL viola

BRYONY GIBSON-CORNISH viola

ASHLEY BROWN cello

VICTORIA SIMONSEN cello

VICTORIA JONES double bass

with

MATTHIAS BALZAT cello (Whangarei, Hamilton, Gisborne, Napier, New Plymouth, Auckland)

EUAN MURDOCH cello (Wanganui, Upper Hutt, Palmerston North, Nelson)

RACHAEL GRIFFITHS-HUGHES harpsichord (Auckland)

Please respect the music, the musicians, and your fellow audience members, by switching off all cellphones, pagers and watches. Taking photographs, or sound or video recordings during the concert is strictly prohibited unless with the prior approval of Chamber Music New Zealand.

Turnovsky Jubilee Ensemble

Turnovsky Jubilee

Ensemble

Turnovsky Jubilee

EnsembleWilma Smith brings a wealth of experience to her role as Director of the Turnovsky Jubilee Ensemble. After graduating from Auckland University, she studied at the New England Conservatory in Boston, then became fi rst violinist in the newly-formed Lydian String Quartet. In 1987 she was lured back to New Zealand to form the New Zealand String Quartet, which she led until taking up the position of Concertmaster with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. She moved to Melbourne in 2003 to become Concertmaster of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, a position she held until 2014. In Melbourne, she is a member of the Munro-Smith-Berlin Trio, and curates a chamber music series, Wilma & Friends. She is also regularly invited to the Prussia Cove Chamber Music Seminar in Britain, and teaches at Melbourne University.1972: Contest national fi nalist (Auckland String Quartet)2010: Contest adjudicator

Wilma SmithDirector, violin

Justine Cormackviolin, viola

Justine Cormack is a member of NZTrio, and regularly performs as a recitalist and concerto soloist. She has recorded a CD of Duos by Lilburn with pianist Michael Houstoun. After studying at the University of Canterbury, San Francisco Conservatory and State University of New York at Stony Brook, she was Sub-Principal First Violin in the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, then Concertmaster of the Auckland Philharmonia. She has taught at both Victoria and Auckland Universities.1983: Contest winner (Christchurch Conservatoire String Orchestra)1984: Contest winner (Vienna Trio, and Christchurch Girls’ and Boys’ High School Orchestra)1986: Contest winner (Christchurch Girls’ and Boys’ High School Orchestra)2001, 2007, 2012 & 2014: Contest adjudicator



Natalie Linviolin

Natalie Lin won the Audience Choice Award at the 2013 Michael Hill International Violin Competition, becoming the fi rst New Zealander in 10 years to be a prizewinner. She is a graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music and is currently completing her Doctoral studies at Rice University. In the UK, she was Concertmaster of the Britten-Pears Orchestra in 2013, and later this year will tour New Zealand with CLiK - the ensemble.2005: Contest winner (Czechpoint, Auckland)

Gillian Ansell viola

Gillian Ansell is a founding member of the New Zealand String Quartet, and teaches at the New Zealand School of Music in Wellington. She studied in Auckland, at the Royal College of Music in London and the Musikhochschule in Köln, then free-lanced in London for three years before returning to New Zealand. She is Artistic Co-Director of the Adam New Zealand Festival of Chamber Music, and in 2008 was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to music. 1972: Contest participant, Auckland2000 & 2003: Contest adjudicator

Lara Hall violin

Lara Hall is the violinist in the New Zealand Chamber Soloists, Concertmaster of the Opus Chamber Orchestra and a member of NZ Barok. She studied both modern and baroque violin at the University of Auckland, then at the University of Michigan. Following that she was a member of the Phoenix Trio and ensemble Camerata Nordica and toured in America and Europe. She now teaches at the University of Waikato.1995: Contest winner (Ivinkaia Trio, Auckland)1996: Contest winner (Aucktet, Auckland)2009: Contest adjudicator

6 Chamber Music New Zealand

Bryony Gibson-Cornish

viola

Bryony Gibson-Cornish attended Rangi Ruru Girls’ School and the Pettman National Junior Academy in Christchurch. She holds degrees from the University of Canterbury and The Juilliard School, New York, where she was a Fulbright Scholar. She is a member of New York Baroque Inc. and principal violist for the Juilliard415 ensemble. Later this year she will pursue an Artist Diploma at the Royal College of Music, London.2007: Contest winner (Felix Octet, Christchurch)2008: Contest winner (Bedrich Quartet, Christchurch)

Ashley Brown cello

Ashley Brown is currently a member of NZTrio, soloist and freelance musician. He is a graduate of Canterbury, Yale and Auckland Universities, and has also studied in London, where he won the Royal Overseas League competition. He has taught at Waikato, Canterbury and Auckland Universities, and has been a member of the Turnovsky Trio and Principal Cellist of the Auckland Philharmonia.1986: Contest winner (Chalas Trio, Auckland)1988: Contest winner (Colla Voce, Auckland)

Victoria Simonsen cello

Victoria Simonsen studied at the University of Auckland then at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, from which she graduated in both cello and composition. She has also studied at the Guildhall School in London and Augsburg University. In 2005 she was appointed Principal Cellist with Opera North and in 2008 joined the Philharmonia Orchestra in London. She performs as a recitalist and recently became the cellist in the Rautio Piano Trio.1999: Contest winner (Elysian Quintet, Auckland)


Rachael Griffi ths-Hughes harpsichord

Rachael Griffi ths-Hughes studied at the University of Auckland and State University of New York, and now teaches at the University of Waikato. She is also a choral conductor and organist, and member of the early music group Aff etto.1983: Contest participant, Auckland1986: Contest participant, Auckland

Victoria Jones double bass

Victoria Jones studied at Victoria University, where she majored in cello, French and German. She took up the double bass after graduating, and was a member of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra from 1979 to 2012, and Sub-Principal Double Bass for 20 years. She has taught at the NZ School of Music in Wellington and now teaches and conducts in the Wairarapa.1966-67: Contest participant, Wellington

Matthias Balzat cello

Matthias Balzat is studying at the University of Waikato, and last year was joint winner of the National Concerto Competition at the age of 14. Earlier this year he performed the Walton Cello Concerto with the National Secondary Schools Symphony Orchestra.2013: Contest winner (Sollertinsky Trio, Auckland)

Euan Murdoch cello

Euan Murdoch has been a member of Trio Victoria and the baroque group Chrome, and has taught at Victoria University. He was Chief Executive of Chamber Music New Zealand until January this year, and is now Director of the NZ School of Music.1973-77: Contest participant, Invercargill


Johann Sebastian BachBorn Eisenach, 21 March 1685 | Died Leipzig, 28 July 1750

Brandenburg Concerto No 3 in G BWV 1048

AllegroAdagioAllegro

Johann Sebastian Bach was the youngest son in a family of musicians. Both of his parents had died by the time he was ten, after which he lived with an older brother, and at the age of fifteen was sent to study in Lüneburg in North Germany. There he came into contact with many new influences, including contemporary French styles of composition. He became a court violinist in Weimar when he was eighteen, and later an organist in Arnstadt. In 1717 Bach was appointed to the position of Kapellmeister at the court of Cöthen, where his main responsibility was to conduct the court orchestra, leaving him ample time to compose. His employer, Prince Leopold, was an excellent violinist and had established the orchestra three years earlier. Church music at the Lutheran court was not expected to be elaborate, and Bach took the opportunity to concentrate on writing secular works. His Brandenburg Concertos, flute sonatas, works for solo cello and solo violin, and English and French keyboard suites all date from this time.The six Brandenburg Concertos acquired their name after Bach sent them to the Margrave of Brandenburg in 1721, with a dedication that described them as ‘concertos with several instruments’. They were probably written over a number of years, and are remarkable for their variety of instrumentation and musical textures. Concerto No 3, like the others, is modelled on the Italian style that had been popularised through the concertos of Vivaldi and Albinoni. It is scored for three each of violins, violas and cellos plus bass continuo, and the unusual combination allows Bach to explore the rich sonorities of the lower instruments. For the most part, he treats each section as a unit, but also allows each individual the opportunity to appear from the texture as a soloist. The lively first movement is built from two short motifs introduced at the opening - the initial three-note turn in the violins, and a longer rising scale that features increasingly wide leaps from a lower pedal note. The second movement is famous for consisting merely of a two chord cadence. Instrumentalists at the time were well used to adding ornamentation, and this may have been the intention here. A swinging final movement in 12/8 again features imitation between individuals and instrumental groups, and concludes the Concerto with a burst of energy.


Benjamin BrittenBorn Lowestoft, 22 November 1913 | Died Aldeburgh, 4 December 1976

Simple Symphony Opus 4

Boisterous BourréePlayful PizzicatoSentimental SarabandeFrolicsome Finale

Benjamin Britten started composing for the piano when he was five years old, and began viola lessons and composing for string instruments when he was nine. At this stage, he was self-taught as a composer, but that didn’t prevent him from writing large numbers of symphonies, tone poems and songs. In 1927 he was deeply impressed by hearing the composer Frank Bridge conduct his own work at the Norwich Festival, and his viola teacher arranged for the two to meet. As a result, Britten began formal composition lessons, and later credited Bridge with broadening his musical horizons and teaching him to think carefully about every note he wrote. From Bridge, he also acquired a strong anti-war belief, which came to the fore most notably in 1961 with his pacifist War Requiem, but also led to Britten and his partner Peter Pears leaving Britain and living in America for three years during the Second World War. During his student days at the Royal College of Music in London, where he studied with composer John Ireland, Britten produced significant choral works and chamber music, and a Sinfonietta that he called his ‘Opus 1’. When he graduated at the end of 1933, he won a scholarship to travel in Europe, but before he left he began work on the Simple Symphony Opus 4.This was a re-working of several piano pieces he had written as a ten year old, scored for a string orchestra, and is notable for its fresh and open musical textures. It was written to be performable by students and amateurs, and has become very popular with audiences. The first performance was given early in 1934, and the work was published later that year. It is dedicated to his viola teacher, Audrey Alston.The movement titles give a sense of the fun nature of the Simple Symphony, which seems to be a tougue-in-cheek title in itself. The Baroque dance references - Bourrée and Sarabande - are also a reminder that Britten was strongly influenced by the work of the composers Purcell and Bach.


Douglas LilburnBorn Wanganui, 2 November 1915 | Died Wellington, 6 June 2001

Allegro for Strings

Douglas Lilburn was a pioneer in the field of New Zealand composition, and his contributions were recognised in 1988 by his appointment to the Order of New Zealand. Early success as a composer came in 1936 when he was still a student. The visiting pianist and composer Percy Grainger had proposed a competition for New Zealand born composers, and Lilburn was awarded first prize for an orchestral tone poem. This gave him the confidence to enrol at the Royal College of Music in London, where he studied composition with Ralph Vaughan Williams, as well as piano and later conducting. After his return to New Zealand in 1940, he spent three months in Wellington as conductor of the Broadcasting Service String Orchestra. His appointment was on the recommendation of the previous conductor, Scottish violinist Maurice Clare, who later gave the inaugural recital for the Wellington Chamber Music Society. That 1945 concert included the Sonata in C for violin and piano by Lilburn, who the newspaper review described as “New Zealand’s most promising and provocative composer”. By that time Lilburn had settled in Christchurch, where he worked as a teacher and freelance musician, joining a group of other artistic pioneers who were making a living from their art, including painters Rita Angus, and poets Denis Glover and Allan Curnow. Lilburn’s compositions from those years include incidental music for Ngaio Marsh’s touring productions of Shakespeare plays. In 1947 he joined the staff of Victoria University in Wellington, where he remained for more than 30 years, becoming a notable teacher of the next generation of composers and founding New Zealand’s first Electronic Music Studio. The Allegro for Strings was written in 1942 and first performed and broadcast that year by the radio studio orchestra in Auckland, conducted by a visiting English violinist. Lilburn later said the work was inspired by the Central Otago landscape, and a reviewer of a 1943 performance said “its exhilarating rush of ideas ... comes to the ears of a New Zealander as the fresh air of the Southern Alps might come to his lungs”.


Felix MendelssohnBorn Hamburg, 3 February 1809 | Died Leipzig, 4 November 1847

Octet in E flat Opus 20

Allegro moderato ma con fuocoAndanteScherzo: Allegro leggierissimoPresto

Mendelssohn was born into a wealthy and cultured family and had an easy and well-connected upbringing. He was also phenomenally talented, and at the age of 26, after his appointment as principal conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, he was ranked among the greatest musicians in Europe. By the time he was ten he and his older sister Fanny were studying composition with Carl Zelter, who was a devotee of the Bach family. Mendelssohn later revived interest in Bach’s music when, in 1829, he directed a pioneering performance of the St Matthew Passion at the Berlin Singakademie, and the influence of Bach’s contrapuntal techniques can be seen throughout Mendelssohn’s own compositions. As a performer, Mendelssohn was well known for his virtuosity on both piano and organ, but he was also a competent string player, and is recorded as performing one of the viola parts in the Octet. This practical knowledge no doubt contributed greatly to the brilliance and effectiveness of the work’s instrumental writing. Although he was only sixteen when he wrote it, Mendelssohn already had considerable compositional experience, having already produced twelve string symphonies, three piano quartets and his first full Symphony. The Octet was written for the 23rd birthday of a family friend, the violinist Eduard Rietz, who was also the dedicatee of his Violin Concerto in D minor. Mendelssohn had a clear picture of the sound he was creating, writing that the Octet “must be played by all the instruments in symphonic orchestral style; pianos and fortes must be strictly observed and more strongly emphasized than is usual in pieces of this character”. All four movements are written in sonata form, and the exuberant tone is evident from the opening with a rising theme in the first violin - a virtuoso part that was obviously written with Rietz in mind. The development section is notable for its final climax, rising from a point of near-stasis to a passage of dense counterpoint, after which the initial theme returns. The restrained Andante second movement has a melancholy tone and provides a serene interlude before the breathless Scherzo. Marked ‘fast and as light as possible’, this justly famous movement shows obvious similarities with his Scherzo from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, composed the following year.Beginning with a fugue that moves rapidly through all eight instruments, the Presto has a lively contrapuntal texture throughout, and Mendelssohn’s extraordinary achievement is to combine that with a joyous sense of early Romantic passion.


BranchesAuckland: Chair, Victoria Silwood; Concert Manager, John Giff neyHamilton: Chair, Murray Hunt; Concert Manager, Gaye Duffi llNew Plymouth: Concert Manager, Susan CaseHawkes Bay: Chair, June Cliff ord; Concert Manager, Liff y RobertsManawatu: Chair, Graham Parsons; Concert Manager, Virginia Warbrick Wellington: Concert Manager, Rachel Hardie Nelson: Chair, Annette Monti; Concert Manager, Clare MontiChristchurch: Chair, Colin McLachlan; Concert Manager, Jody KeehanDunedin: Chair, Terence Dennis; Concert Manager, Richard DingwallSouthland: Chair, Shona Thomson; Concert Manager, Jennifer Sinclair

Staff Chief Executive, Peter WallsDevelopment Manager, Kirsten MasonBusiness Support Coordinator, Gemma RobinsonOperations Coordinator, Rachel HardieArtistic Manager, Catherine GibsonEducation and Outreach Coordinator, Sue JaneProgramme Writer, Jane DawsonAlumni Correspondent, Salina Fisher Contest Administrator, Jack HobbsAudience Development Manager, Victoria DaddMarketing & Communications Coordinator, Hannah DarrochTicketing & Database Coordinator, Laurel BruceDesign & Print Coordinator, Darcy WoodsPublicist, Sally Woodfi eld Offi ce Administrator, Becky Holmes

BoardChair, Roger King, Paul Baines, Gretchen La Roche, Sarah Sinclair, Lloyd Williams, Vanessa Van den Broek

Level 4, 75 Ghuznee Street PO Box 6238, Wellington

0800 CONCERT (266 2378)

[email protected] /ChamberMusicNZ

© Chamber Music New Zealand 2015 No part of this programme may be reproduced without the prior permission of Chamber Music New Zealand.

Regional Presenters Marlborough Music Society Inc (Blenheim), Cromwell & Districts Community Arts Council, Musica Viva Gisborne, Music Society Eastern Southland (Gore), Kaitaia Community Arts Service, Aroha Music Society (Kerikeri),Chamber Music Hutt Valley, Motueka Music Group,South Waikato Music Society Inc (Putararu), Waimakariri Community Arts Council (Rangiora), Rotorua Music Federation, Taihape Music Group, Tauranga Musica Inc, Upper Hutt Music Society, Waikanae Music Society, Wanaka Concert Society Inc, Chamber Music Wanganui, Warkworth Music Society,Wellington Chamber Music Trust, Whakatane Music Society, Whangarei Music Society.

Regional Concerts & Other Events

Te Kōkī Trio (piano trio)Rotorua 13 JuneTauranga 14 JuneMotueka 18 JuneBlenheim 19 JuneRangiora 20 JuneWaikanae 28 June

Andrew Beer & Sarah Watkins (violin/piano)

Wellington 21 June

Aff etto (early music)Whakatane 5 JulyLower Hutt 8 JulyBlenheim 10 JulyMotueka 11 JulyWarkworth 19 July

Mimosa Ensemble(woodwinds, piano)

Tauranga 19 JulyWaikanae 26 JulyLower Hutt 29 JulyWanganui 30 JulyMotueka 4 AugustRangiora 6 AugustGore 9 AugustGisborne 12 AugustWhakatane 13 AugustKerikeri 16 August

A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO ALL OUR SUPPORTERS

CAROLYN & PETER DIESSL

Thank you!CORE FUNDER CORE PARTNER

NATIONAL PARTNERS

TRUSTS AND FOUNDATIONS

PARTNERS AND SUPPORTERS

WINTON AND MARGARET BEAR CHARITABLE TRUST

MARIE VANDEWART TRUST

ACCOMMODATION

Crowne Plaza Auckland, Nice Hotel New Plymouth, County Hotel Napier,Intercontinental Wellington, Kelvin Hotel Invercargill

MARIAN LOUISE HOLT TRUST

TURNOVSKYJUBILEEENSEMBLE

CHAMBER MUSIC NEW ZEALAND presents

Concert Programme

TwoPerformed in 5 of the 15 centres.

For Concert Programme One

see page 1


We would like to thank our Jubilee patrons for their generosity and support:Core Patron:Sir James Wallace KNZM

Gold Jubilee Patrons:Paul and Sheryl Baines, Donald and Susan Best, Philip and Rosalind BurdonGraeme and Di Edwards, Ann Harden (in memory of Joan Kerr) Tom and Ann Morris, Roger and Catherine Taylor, Lloyd Williams and Cally McWhaDavid and the late Helen Zwartz

Join us in giving the gift of chamber music to young New Zealanders by donating to the 50th Jubilee Appeal (1965-2015).

As a not for profit charity we relyon your generous donations.

Phone us on 0800 CONCERT Email us at: [email protected] to donate online visit:chambermusic.co.nz/support-us

2015 NZCTCHAMBER MUSIC CONTEST

NZ

COM

MU

NITY

TRU

ST

With your help we can ensure thefuture of theContest

Regional Finals: 20-21 June(in Auckland, Napier, Christchurch)

National Finals Weekend: 1-2 August (in Wellington)

For more information visit chambermusic.co.nz

Cheer on the future stars of chamber

music at the50th Jubilee

Chamber Music Contest.

1Turnovsky Jubilee Ensemble 1Turnovsky Jubilee Ensemble

Kia ora

The Wellington concert is being recorded for broadcast live by Radio NZ Concert

The Turnovsky Jubilee Ensemble tour is, in many ways, the signature event in Chamber Music New Zealand’s 2015 season, since this year we celebrate 50 years of the secondary schools’ NZCT Chamber Music Contest. What the Turnovsky Ensemble demonstrates is that many of the young musicians who we will be hearing in the finals at the beginning of August will be prominent in our musical scene in the years to come. Not all, of course, will end up in the profession. Some will find their adult concert-going experiences enriched by knowing what it’s like to be out there on stage with their friends at the end of a sustained period of rehearsal. I find it inspiring that Chamber Music New Zealand can trace musical careers like this. It

is wonderful to be providing a platform for young talent and then to follow that talent through into sophisticated professional ensembles.

The Turnovsky Ensemble embraces recent Contest alumni like Bryony Gibson-Cornish and Natalie Lin through to some of our most established and well-loved musicians like Victoria Jones, Bridget Douglas and, of course, the ensemble’s director, Wilma Smith. I am writing this the day after the Wellington version of our Open Stage event which covered an even wider age span from 10-year-old Sophia Hardie (playing flute with her parents and sister) to the 82-year-old Lola Austin, who made the first ever classical LP in New Zealand and who is still an excellent pianist (miraculously so, given the ravages of arthritis in her hands). This span is something quite special about chamber music as a performing and listening activity.

It is so right that our Jubilee Ensemble has the Turnovsky name attached. The Turnovsky family have done enormous amounts for music in Aotearoa and, particularly, for Chamber Music New Zealand. Fred Turnovsky was one of our founders and was actively engaged until his death. (He was a forceful personality and his views played a large part in shaping the CMNZ that we know today.) Fred’s daughter Helen has been a member of the CMNZ Trust board and is now a trustee for the CMNZ Foundation. The Turnovsky Endowment Trust provides substantial support every year – and we are very grateful for that.

I do hope that you enjoy this very special concert.

Peter Walls

Chief Executive,



Message from theTurnovsky Endowment Trust.

Fred Turnovsky, who arrived in New Zealand in 1940, was a member of a small group of refugees from Europe who influenced immeasurably our cultural life. Having grown up in Prague, one of the undisputed cultural centres of Europe, he was struck by the fact that professional music, which he had taken for granted, did not appear to exist in his adopted country. With his drive and dedication he set about, in a positive and practical way, to foster the Arts, especially music. In collaboration with other music enthusiasts he established what we call today Chamber Music New Zealand and, consequently, the Chamber Music Contest.He also established the Turnovsky Endowment Trust, which has, over a period of many years, generously supported the Arts. Fred died in 1994, but his family, in wishing to fulfil his vision of a strong cultural environment, continues to foster the Arts through the Turnovsky Endowment Trust.

We hope you enjoy this performance by the Turnovsky Jubilee Ensemble in this 50th year of the Chamber Music Contest. A fitting celebration of all the New Zealand musical talent that has been nurtured and supported over the years. Helen PhilpottTrusteeTurnovsky Endowment Trust

Chamber Music New Zealand thanks the National Library of New Zealand for supplying

the printed music used in this performance

ProgrammeLilburn Diversions for Strings page 8Bach Orchestral Suite No 2 in B minor BWV1067 page 9

interval

Mozart Flute Quartet No 1 in D K285 page 10Mendelssohn Octet in E flat Opus 20 page 11

Wellington 18 June

Christchurch 21 June

Timaru 22 June

3

Please respect the music, the musicians, and your fellow audience members, by switching off all cellphones, pagers and watches. Taking photographs, or sound or video recordings during the concert is strictly prohibited unless with the prior approval of Chamber Music New Zealand.

Dunedin 24 June

Invercargill 25 June


WILMA SMITH director, violin

JUSTINE CORMACK violin, viola

LARA HALL violin

NATALIE LIN violin

GILLIAN ANSELL viola

BRYONY GIBSON-CORNISH viola

ASHLEY BROWN cello

VICTORIA SIMONSEN cello

VICTORIA JONES double bass

with

BRIDGET DOUGLAS flute

DOUGLAS MEWS harpsichord (Wellington)

Turnovsky Jubilee

Ensemble


Turnovsky Jubilee

Ensemble

Wilma SmithDirector, violin

Justine Cormackviolin, viola

Justine Cormack is a member of NZTrio, and regularly performs as a recitalist and concerto soloist. She has recorded a CD of Duos by Lilburn with pianist Michael Houstoun. After studying at the University of Canterbury, San Francisco Conservatory and State University of New York at Stony Brook, she was Sub-Principal First Violin in the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, then Concertmaster of the Auckland Philharmonia. She has taught at both Victoria and Auckland Universities.1983: Contest winner (Christchurch Conservatoire String Orchestra)1984: Contest winner (Vienna Trio, and Christchurch Girls’ and Boys’ High School Orchestra)1986: Contest winner (Christchurch Girls’ and Boys’ High School Orchestra)2001, 2007, 2012 & 2014: Contest adjudicator

Wilma Smith brings a wealth of experience to her role as Director of the Turnovsky Jubilee Ensemble. After graduating from Auckland University, she studied at the New England Conservatory in Boston, then became fi rst violinist in the newly-formed Lydian String Quartet. In 1987 she was lured back to New Zealand to form the New Zealand String Quartet, which she led until taking up the position of Concertmaster with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. She moved to Melbourne in 2003 to become Concertmaster of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, a position she held until 2014. In Melbourne, she is a member of the Munro-Smith-Berlin Trio, and curates a chamber music series, Wilma & Friends. She is also regularly invited to the Prussia Cove Chamber Music Seminar in Britain, and teaches at Melbourne University.1972: Contest national fi nalist (Auckland String Quartet)2010: Contest adjudicator

Turnovsky Jubilee Ensemble 5

Natalie Linviolin

Natalie Lin won the Audience Choice Award at the 2013 Michael Hill International Violin Competition, becoming the fi rst New Zealander in 10 years to be a prizewinner. She is a graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music and is currently completing her Doctoral studies at Rice University. In the UK, she was Concertmaster of the Britten-Pears Orchestra in 2013, and later this year will tour New Zealand with CLiK - the ensemble.2005: Contest winner (Czechpoint, Auckland)

Gillian Ansell viola

Gillian Ansell is a founding member of the New Zealand String Quartet, and teaches at the New Zealand School of Music in Wellington. She studied in Auckland, at the Royal College of Music in London and the Musikhochschule in Köln, then free-lanced in London for three years before returning to New Zealand. She is Artistic Co-Director of the Adam New Zealand Festival of Chamber Music, and in 2008 was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to music. 1972: Contest participant, Auckland2000 & 2003: Contest adjudicator

Lara Hall violin

Lara Hall is the violinist in the New Zealand Chamber Soloists, Concertmaster of the Opus Chamber Orchestra and a member of NZ Barok. She studied both modern and baroque violin at the University of Auckland, then at the University of Michigan. Following that she was a member of the Phoenix Trio and ensemble Camerata Nordica and toured in America and Europe. She now teaches at the University of Waikato.1995: Contest winner (Ivinkaia Trio, Auckland)1996: Contest winner (Aucktet, Auckland)2009: Contest adjudicator


Bryony Gibson-Cornish

viola

Ashley Brown cello

Ashley Brown is currently a member of NZTrio, soloist and freelance musician. He is a graduate of Canterbury, Yale and Auckland Universities, and has also studied in London, where he won the Royal Overseas League competition. He has taught at Waikato, Canterbury and Auckland Universities, and has been a member of the Turnovsky Trio and Principal Cellist of the Auckland Philharmonia.1986: Contest winner (Chalas Trio, Auckland)1988: Contest winner (Colla Voce, Auckland)

Victoria Simonsen cello

Victoria Simonsen studied at the University of Auckland then at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, from which she graduated in both cello and composition. She has also studied at the Guildhall School in London and Augsburg University. In 2005 she was appointed Principal Cellist with Opera North and in 2008 joined the Philharmonia Orchestra in London. She performs as a recitalist and recently became the cellist in the Rautio Piano Trio.1999: Contest winner (Elysian Quintet, Auckland)

Bryony Gibson-Cornish attended Rangi Ruru Girls’ School and the Pettman National Junior Academy in Christchurch. She holds degrees from the University of Canterbury and The Juilliard School, New York, where she was a Fulbright Scholar. She is a member of New York Baroque Inc. and principal violist for the Juilliard415 ensemble. Later this year she will pursue an Artist Diploma at the Royal College of Music, London.2007: Contest winner (Felix Octet, Christchurch)2008: Contest winner (Bedrich Quartet, Christchurch)


Douglas Mews harpsichord

Douglas Mews studied organ and harpsichord at theUniversity of Auckland, and harpsichord at the Hague Conservatorium. He is now a freelance musician, teaches at the NZ School of Music, and directs the music at St Teresa’s Church. 1971: Contest participant, (Auckland)

Bridget Douglas is Principal Flute with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, and co-founder of the contemporary ensemble Stroma. She studied at Victoria University then was a Fulbright Scholar at the State University of New York. Her chamber music performances include tours with the duo Flight and wind quintet Zephyr. She teaches at the NZ School of Music.1985-88: Contest participant & national fi nalist (Fioritura Quartet, Dunedin)2002 & 2015: Contest adjudicator

Bridget Douglasfl ute

Victoria Jones double bass

Victoria Jones studied at Victoria University, where she majored in cello, French and German. She took up the double bass after graduating, and was a member of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra from 1979 to 2012, and Sub-Principal Double Bass for 20 years. She has taught at the NZ School of Music in Wellington and now teaches and conducts in the Wairarapa.1966-67: Contest participant, Wellington


Douglas LilburnBorn Wanganui, 2 November 1915 | Died Wellington, 6 June 2001

Diversions for String Orchestra

VivacePoco adagio: expressivoPresto AndanteAllegro

Douglas Lilburn was a pioneer in the field of New Zealand composition, and his contributions were recognised in 1988 by his appointment to the Order of New Zealand. Early success as a composer came in 1936 while he was still a student. The visiting pianist and composer Percy Grainger had proposed a competition for New Zealand born composers, and Lilburn was awarded first prize for an orchestral tone poem. This gave him the confidence to enrol at the Royal College of Music in London, where he studied composition with Ralph Vaughan Williams, as well as piano and later conducting. After his return to New Zealand in 1940, he spent three months in Wellington as conductor of the Broadcasting Service String Orchestra. His appointment was on the recommendation of the previous conductor, Scottish violinist Maurice Clare, who later gave the inaugural recital for the Wellington Chamber Music Society. That 1945 concert included the Sonata in C for violin and piano by Lilburn, and the newspaper review described him as “New Zealand’s most promising and provocative composer”. By that time, Lilburn had settled in Christchurch, where he worked as a teacher and freelance musician, joining a group of other artistic pioneers who were making a living from their art, including painters Rita Angus, and poets Denis Glover and Allan Curnow. Lilburn’s compositions from that time include incidental music for Ngaio Marsh’s touring productions of Shakespeare plays. In 1947 he joined the staff of Victoria University in Wellington, where he remained for more than 30 years, becoming a notable teacher of the next generation of composers and founding New Zealand’s first Electronic Music Studio. Diversions for String Orchestra was composed in 1947 for a visiting English group, the Boyd Neel String Orchestra, which gave the first performance of the piece in Wellington that year and later performed it in England. It is a light-hearted work, with the third movement even tossing in a reference to Rossini’s William Tell overture.


Johann Sebastian BachBorn Eisenach, 21 March 1685 | Died Leipzig, 28 July 1750 Orchestral Suite No 2 in B minor BWV 1067

OvertureRondeauSarabandeBourrée I and IIPolonaiseMinuetBadinerie

Johann Sebastian Bach was the youngest son in a family of musicians. Both of his parents had died by the time he was ten, after which he lived with an older brother, and at the age of fifteen he was sent to study in Lüneburg in North Germany. There he came into contact with many new influences, including contemporary French styles of composition. He became a court violinist in Weimar when he was eighteen, and later an organist in Arnstadt. In 1717 Bach was appointed to the position of Kapellmeister at the court of Cöthen, where his main responsibility was to conduct the court orchestra, leaving him ample time to compose. His employer, Prince Leopold, was an excellent violinist and had established the orchestra three years earlier. Church music at the Lutheran court was not expected to be elaborate, and Bach took the opportunity to concentrate on writing secular works. His Brandenburg Concertos, flute sonatas, works for solo cello and solo violin, and English and French keyboard suites all date from this time.In 1723 Bach moved from Cöthen to Leipzig with his family to take up the position of Kantor at the Thomasschule, a prestigious school connected with one of Leipzig’s principal churches. Most of the works he wrote there were for church use, but from 1729 he was also Director of the Collegium Musicum, a music society orchestra that presented public concerts. The Orchestral Suite No 2 in B minor was probably written in the 1730s, when the flute had become a popular solo instrument thanks to the Dresden-based virtuoso Pierre Buffardin. It is written in the French style with an initial overture followed by a suite of dances. The opening, marked Grave [serious], features the dotted rhythm that characterises French overtures, and is divided by a central fugal section. In the Rondeau, the refrain melody appears three times, framing two contrasting passages. The musical texture of the elegant Sarabande is rounded out by intertwining contrapuntal lines, with the bass continuo following the main melody in canon a bar later. A pair of Bourrées follow, with the first repeated after the second, then a sprightly Polonaise which also includes a central section for accompanied flute. After a standard Minuet, the final Badinerie adds a virtuoso flourish with what is probably one of Bach’s most well known movements.


Wolfgang Amadeus MozartBorn Salzburg, 27 January 1756 | Died Vienna, 5 December 1791Flute Quartet No 1 in D K285

AllegroAdagioRondeau: Allegretto

Mozart is now considered one of the world’s greatest composers, but during his lifetime he struggled both to earn a living and to gain recognition. As a child prodigy he was taken on lengthy - and often gruelling - performing tours by his very ambitious father through Germany, Austria, France, England and Italy. These did, however, enable him to absorb contemporary musical styles, and meet leading musicians such as the London-based Johann Christian Bach.At the age of 17 Mozart was employed as a musician at the court of Salzburg, but he found the conditions there frustrating and eventually resigned in 1777. He then undertook another long tour, spending significant periods in Mannheim and Paris, but was again unsuccessful in obtaining a position elsewhere or even earning enough to live on. He returned to Salzburg in 1778 as court organist and orchestra leader, and stayed there until he moved to Vienna in 1781. While he was in Mannheim, the wealthy doctor and amateur flautist Ferdinand De Jean commissioned Mozart to write two quartets and three ‘short, easy’ concertos for his own use. However, Mozart only produced three quartets and one original concerto, along with a transcription of his earlier Oboe Concerto. De Jean was not pleased and paid Mozart less than half of his fee. In a letter to his father, who had made it clear that the purpose of his son’s travel “was, is, and must be to find employment or earn money”, Mozart gave the excuse that he found it difficult “to write lots for an instrument I can’t stand”. Flautists have found many reasons to excuse this comment, and scholars counteract it by pointing to Mozart’s sensitive use of the flute in his symphonies and operas, with The Magic Flute being an obvious contradiction. The instrument was certainly in a state of development at the time, and many players struggled with tuning and producing consistent tone quality. However, Mozart also enjoying the social life of Mannheim, and had fallen in love with the young singer Aloysia Weber, whose sister he later married, so he may have resented the time spent on composing. Whatever the reasons for his remark, the Quartet in D shows no sign of dislike and the flute part is full of character. It follows the typical shape of a Classical period sonata, with fast, slow, then fast movements. In an unusual dramatic touch, the limpid minor-key Adagio leads without a break into the rondo-style finale.

11

Felix MendelssohnBorn Hamburg, 3 February 1809 | Died Leipzig, 4 November 1847

Octet in E flat Opus 20

Allegro moderato ma con fuocoAndanteScherzo: Allegro leggierissimoPresto

Mendelssohn was born into a wealthy and cultured family and had an easy and well-connected upbringing. He was also phenomenally talented, and at the age of 26, after his appointment as principal conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, he was ranked among the greatest musicians in Europe. By the time he was ten he and his older sister Fanny were studying composition with Carl Zelter, who was a devotee of the Bach family. Mendelssohn later revived interest in Bach’s music when, in 1829, he directed a pioneering performance of the St Matthew Passion at the Berlin Singakademie, and the influence of Bach’s contrapuntal techniques can be seen throughout Mendelssohn’s own compositions. As a performer, Mendelssohn was well known for his virtuosity on both piano and organ, but he was also a competent string player, and is recorded as performing one of the viola parts in the Octet. This practical knowledge no doubt contributed greatly to the brilliance and effectiveness of the work’s instrumental writing. Although he was only sixteen when he wrote it, Mendelssohn already had considerable compositional experience, having already produced twelve string symphonies, three piano quartets and his first full Symphony. The Octet was written for the 23rd birthday of a family friend, the violinist Eduard Rietz, who was also the dedicatee of his Violin Concerto in D minor. Mendelssohn had a clear picture of the sound he was creating, writing that the Octet “must be played by all the instruments in symphonic orchestral style; pianos and fortes must be strictly observed and more strongly emphasized than is usual in pieces of this character”. All four movements are written in sonata form, and the exuberant tone is evident from the opening with a rising theme in the first violin - a virtuoso part that was obviously written with Rietz in mind. The development section is notable for its final climax, rising from a point of near-stasis to a passage of dense counterpoint, after which the initial theme returns. The restrained Andante second movement has a melancholy tone and provides a serene interlude before the breathless Scherzo. Marked ‘fast and as light as possible’, this justly famous movement shows obvious similarities with his Scherzo from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, composed the following year.Beginning with a fugue that moves rapidly through all eight instruments, the Presto has a lively contrapuntal texture throughout, and Mendelssohn’s extraordinary achievement is to combine that with a joyous sense of early Romantic passion.



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Regional Concerts & Other Events

Te Kōkī Trio (piano trio)Rotorua 13 JuneTauranga 14 JuneMotueka 18 JuneBlenheim 19 JuneRangiora 20 JuneWaikanae 28 June

Andrew Beer & Sarah Watkins (violin/piano)

Wellington 21 June

Aff etto (early music)Whakatane 5 JulyLower Hutt 8 JulyBlenheim 10 JulyMotueka 11 JulyWarkworth 19 July

Mimosa Ensemble(woodwinds, piano)

Tauranga 19 JulyWaikanae 26 JulyLower Hutt 29 JulyWanganui 30 JulyMotueka 4 AugustRangiora 6 AugustGore 9 AugustGisborne 12 AugustWhakatane 13 AugustKerikeri 16 August

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Turnovsky Jubilee Ensemble Programme.pdf

Documents

Transcript of Turnovsky Jubilee Ensemble Programme.pdf