Waikanae Music Society celebrates 40 years

On Sunday September 2 the Waikanae Music Society has a concert to celebrate 40 years of presenting classical music concerts on the Kapiti Coast.

Since 1978 the Society has grown to be one of the largest and most successful organisations of its kind, attracting the cream of NZ performers as well as prominent overseas artists.

The Society is sharing this important milestone with the Amici Ensemble, who are making their own 25th appearance in Waikanae. Led by the NZSO’s Associate Concertmaster Donald Armstrong, the ensemble is made up of prominent NZSO musicians.

Amici will be playing one of the pieces (Mozart’s glorious Clarinet Quintet) that they performed at their first 1989 concert. Also on the programme will be Mozart’s Flute Quartet, Debussy’s Syrinx for solo flute and Ravel’s evocative Introduction and Allegro. To mark the 40th Anniversary the Waikanae Music Society has commissioned a new work from Salina Fisher, a young composer who is one of this country’s most exciting new voices.

The 40th Anniversary Commission is supported by the Lion Foundation and Wellington Community Trust. The concert, in the Waikanae Memorial Hall, starts at 2:30pm. Tickets available at Waikanae New World, Moby Dickens Books in Paraparaumu Beach or at the Kapiti i-site in Paraparaumu. Enquiries on 04 293 4025, 04 905 6070 or www.waikanaemusic.org.nz