The APO Discovery Concert brings the NZ music curriculum to life, and high school students are invited to the Auckland Town Hall to experience a narrated performance by the full Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra.
This year, the concert explored how various composition techniques and devices are used to create a musical piece. Students were able to listen to Richard Strauss’ Oboe Concerto with soloist David Zhu, Bizet’s Carmen: Suite No. 1, a brand new commission by Grace Wellik as Composer-in-Residence called “The Pendulum swings until it can’t no more” and Compose Yourself! by James Stephenson, where students could select from a range of music motifs. The orchestra then used these to make an entirely new piece to perform. See below for a selection of student reviews.
“Before going on the trip, I was rather hesitant. I usually don’t find myself engaged in concerts, but this trip was different. David Kay, one of the French Horn players, was a fantastic commentator and ‘tour guide’ when showing us the various instruments of the orchestra and features–one of the best instrument introductions being the trombone and the wide variety of sounds it could play. The orchestra played a colourful repertoire from composers and showed how they made different conversations between different instruments. The concert was an engaging experience that I’ll definitely be holding in my mind for a while.”
– Charlotte Adlam
“I found the piece interesting because of the rushed and stressed feeling. The tempo made it all the more interesting as it was quite fast and made it so much more erratic. The rhythm and bits where the tempo changed really sold it for me and made me really enjoy this piece of music.”
(The Pendulum swings until it can’t no more) – Chloe Day
“I really liked this piece because we got to learn a bit more about the difference between rhythm, melody and harmony. I also liked how we were in charge of this piece, making it as we pleased. It was cool to hear and find out what different orchestral sections played the different harmonies, melodies and rhythms, as well.”
(Compose Yourself!) – Harriet Boyens.