14 Wairarapa Midweek Extra Wednesday, July 20, 2022 ARATOI VOICES
Extra
Greytown School auction a success When Greytown School’s deputy principal Neil Preston was approached by the organisers of the Greytown Midwinter Christmas Festival, he brainstormed various ideas to involve the school. At first, he decided an exhibition of students’ art would be a good idea. However, when he and the organising group thought about the numbers of artists and art lovers who live in and near Greytown, the idea morphed into an art auction. “I didn’t have to do much shoulder tapping,” Preston says. “I talked to Becky Bateman and Josepha Murray, parents of children atthe
school, and they gave me some contacts. It just grew from there. Word seemed to get out and we had people contacting us. Artists knew that the works were on commission but some still donated a piece. It finally resulted in an exhibition of about 70 pieces from 45 different artists.” Meantime, the idea of a student art exhibition was not abandoned. “The involvement of the school was to me just as important as the auction,” Preston says. “Our ākonga [students] spent some time researching various artists and their techniques and making art in that
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style. One class studied Hundertwasser and another our local artist Sandra Wong.” “On the day before the auction, teachers displayed the students’ art in classrooms. Families could come in that Friday to see the works and make a koha for their child’s piece if they
wanted to. Not only was art being taught, but also the different ways we value people’s art work.” “The kaupapa of the art action was ultimately about us connecting with the school and the wider community,” Greytown School principal Paula Weston said. “Covid
removed so many opportunities to come together. So we wanted to do something that invited people in to be part of us again.” Preston credits the success to community help and effort. Under the hammer of Property Brokers’ Benn Milne, most works were sold at above reserve prices, with goodnatured banter from the crowd accompanying the auction battles, raising a sizeable amount of money for the school’s new junior playground. Greytown School’s auction was not the only opportunity to attend an art auction this year. Aratoi will hold two art auction events in November: on November 4, Little Jewels will, for the first time, take the form of a silent auction. On November 8, the winetasting event Palette to Palate will be accompanied by an auction of works from three or four prestigious Wairarapa artists.
International trio returns to Greytown This weekend, after a long absence, the Levansa Trio will be returning to play in Wairarapa. The trio, comprised of violinist Andrew Beer, cellist Lev Sivkov, and pianist Sarah Watkins, will be embarking on a New Zealand tour, starting with a concert in Greytown on Saturday afternoon. The Levansa trio first came together as an ensemble in 2019, while Sivkov, based in Switzerland, was visiting New Zealand to play solo concerts. It was clear from the beginning that this international collaboration between an Aucklandbased Canadian, a Russian and a Kiwi had great potential, and that the three musicians felt a spontaneous affinity as chamber music partners. The performances that emerged during their first series of recitals [including one in Greytown] reflected their enjoyment and
The Levansa Trio: Andrew Beer [left], Sarah Watkins, and Lev Sivkov. satisfaction in making music together. The trio agreed to continue playing together — but the covid pandemic intervened. However, the musicians made the best of the situation: despite being on opposite sides of the world, Beer and Sivkov performed together online and even made recordings of violin
and cello duets by Russian composer Reinhold Glière. Beer and Watkins, who were both named as New Zealand Classical Artists of the Year in 2020, also played together on social media — with a guest appearance from Watkins’ cat. The Greytown concert, organised by the Greytown Music Group, will feature
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Bohuslav Martinu’s Piano Trio No 2, Mozart’s Adagio by Arvo Pärt, and New Zealand composer Clare Cowan’s Ultraviolet. The major work for the programme will be the epic Piano Trio in A Minor by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. Although Tchaikovsky had previously refused to write a piano trio, as he thought the sounds
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didn’t blend well together, the death of close friend Nikolai Rubinstein, who had composed five piano trios, changed his mind. Tchaikovsky resolved to commemorate Rubinstein by writing a piano part so virtuosic it would have been worthy of his keyboard prowess. Pianist Watkins said the trio was “looking forward to putting the band together” after several years apart. “We’ll have an intense period of rehearsals before our first concert in Greytown,” she said. “We feel that the rapport we felt the first time around will carry us through.” • The Levansa trio will play on Saturday, July 23, at 57 Wood Street, Greytown, starting at 4pm. Admission is $30 for adults, $10 for children. Bookings are essential — contact Ed and Juliet Cooke on 06 304 9497, or efjacooke@gmail.com, to book a space.
