Peter Adams

Associate professor of music at Otago University and has guestconducted the DSO Performance: Tecwyn, Terrance and Tom Celebrating Matariki; Tally Ho! 3

1. As an undergraduate student in the late 1970s I played clarinet in the then Dunedin Civic Orchestra and have played occasionally with the Dunedin orchestra up until a couple of years ago. My conducting relationship with the orchestra began in 1986 when I was musical director of the City Choir and I did many concerts with the choir and orchestra combined for the next 10 years.

My professional conducting activities have been a major part of my professional practice activities as a university lecturer so there is a symbiotic relationship between the orchestra and the university in my case. The orchestra relies on staff and students to be playing members (and audience), and the university and the city relies on the orchestra to provide us with great live classical music, so it’s really important that we proactively maintain this close relationship.

2. Conducting Trevor Coleman’s hourlong Equator Suite with a click track in my ears via headphones and a video monitor on my stand beside the music. The public saw images on a huge screen above the orchestra. The music had time signatures in 7 and 11 (none of your 4/4 common time!) and some parts of the music were so complicated that we had a second conductor (David Burchell) in the gallery to keep the choir synchronised! It all came off and a packed town hall loved it.