First class concert season for Waikanae

Waikanae Music Society has announced its 2023 Concert Season with an impressive line-up of top musicians and a variety of interesting programmes.

Opening the season there will be a charming concert called “Serenade” – a term that refers to music written for light entertainment.

The Aroha String Trio will entertain with serenades by Schubert, Beethoven, Dohnányi and others on 26 February.

The concert on March 26 will showcase the French Horn and the talents of outstanding young horn player Samuel Jacobs.

Joining him with music by Beethoven, Clara Schumann and Brahms will be violinist Donald Armstrong and pianist Jian Liu.

On 30 April an extremely unusual concert of French music from the ensemble Les Voisins opens with theorbo solos from the French Baroque court of Louis IV.

The theorbo is a large plucked instrument of the lute family and the chance to see and hear one is very rare.

What makes this concert so intriguing is that the theorbo player is also a guitarist and after a journey through French music over the centuries the concert closes with jazz from the iconic Hot Club de France.

One of the season’s highlights will be on 11 June when ever-popular Michael Houstoun returns to perform Bach, Brahms, Chopin and Rachmaninoff.