News
2008 ends. "Wow!" ...and... "Whew!"
Merry Christmas to one and all. Holiday hours below.
Marc Taddei completed a banner year, with return guest appearances in Adelaide, Brisbane, Hobart, Auckland, and Nelson -- in addition to performances in Wellington, Masterton, Napier, Palmerston North and Wanganui with his own orchestra. He conducted artists as diverse as Dame Kiri te Kanawa, John Chen, Feng Ning, Judith Durham, Dave Dobbyn and a Pink Floyd tribute band. He made recordings with the NZSO, conducted Circus Proms, Baby Proms, School Concerts and the Wellington Film Festival, and took the Royal New Zealand Ballet on tour with Don Quixote. The highlight of his VWO subscription series would have to be either be the Concert of Remembrance, or the Opera-in-Concert performance of Bluebeard's Castle, both of which received stellar reviews. He capped the year by renewing his contract with Vector Wellington Orchestra through the end of 2012.
Marc has just unveiled another sparkling new season with the VWO. Click here to see why comments such as "by far the best programmer in New Zealand" are not uncommon.
In 2009, Marc makes his debut with the Richmond Symphony Orchestra in Virginia (USA), and with the Sydney Symphony in Australia. He leads the Royal New Zealand ballet again on tour, tours the middle of New Zealand with the Vector Wellington Orchestra, and rounds out the year with recording contracts and return guest conducting engagements in Adelaide, Hobart, Auckland and Nelson.
Cyprien Katsaris was feted at the Beijing Olympics this year, where he performed in recital and in concert alongside Lang Lang, Sa Chen, Vladimir Feltsman and other luminaries. Read about the electric reception he received for his recital performance.
This year Cyprien was extensively profiled in Fanfare Magazine (November/December issue), received standing ovations for his sold-out recitals in February and March at the Svetlanov Hall and the Great Hall of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, garnered a glowing review for his Bayreuth Piano Festival recital, and undertook an extensive tour of Japan and Korea before arriving in Australia in November for four separate debut concerts.
In 2009, plans are underway for Cyprien to tour Japan and China, with returns to Beijing and Shanghai. See our new Asia Tours Page for details.
There's further reading on our website, including two spellbinding reviews from his Adelaide recital, the expansive Peter Rabinowitz interview in Fanfare, and separately, on YouTube, Cyprien's famous French TV performance of the Flight of the Bumblebee from 1975.
Maxima is delighted to welcome the stunning young violinist Tianwa Yang (楊天媧) to our exclusive roster this year. Tianwa just debuted with a major American orchestra, causing Lawrence B. Johnson to write in the the Detroit News:
"I swear - in two passes of the bow [this supreme musician] changed my perception of the landscape of violin playing in the world today.
"By the time she had finished her grand-scaled, probing and drop-dead gorgeous turn through Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, the 21-year-old Yang had announced herself as the most important new violinist to come on the scene in many a year."
Critic Oliver Chow from Hong Kong has written an impressive account of her concerts there in October. Tianwa has limited availabilities in 2009 still left, including New Year's 2010. See our new Asia Tours Page...and please enquire now about bookings for 2010 and 11 before all the dates are gone!
Pianist John Chen completed a whirlwind 2008. His Saguaro Trio entered two prestigious competitions and won prizes in both: the Fischoff International Chamber Music Competition (USA), and the Osaka International Chamber Music Competition (Japan). He released his album of Debussy and Ravel "Fountains" on the ABC label, and was honored by the University of Auckland as its Young Alumnus of the Year.
In addition, he performed with Johannes Fritzsch and the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra. The concert required extra seating behind the stage and no tickets were left. He also gave widely praised performances of the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 on tour with the Vector Wellington Orchestra, appeared with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and made his debut with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra under Yasuo Shinozaki.
In the middle of the year, he gave a single recital in New Zealand, and accompanied violinist Feng Ning twice in New Zealand, before accompanying Feng on tour to Australia under the auspices of Musica Viva. He rounded off the year by performing, with the Saguaro Trio, Schubert's Trio No. 2 in E. flat Opus 100 in the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall on December 13 in New York City.
Next year John returns to the Melbourne, Tasmanian, and West Australian Symphony Orchestras, and appears with the T'ang Quartet in a recital which will feature the world premiere of composer Gao Ping's Piano Quintet. He also tours with New Zealand's National Youth Orchestra as special guest to celebrate their 50th anniversary, and undertakes an extensive recital tour of New Zealand and Australia.
Violinist Feng Ning lived mostly on airplanes this year as he undertook one of the most extensive Australasian tours in memory. Debuts included Singapore, Malaysia, Melbourne, Brisbane, Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Rockhampton and Caloundra, and return visits to Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. While in Australia, he and pianist John Chen toured several cities on a recital tour organized by Musica Viva.
All orchestras expressed a desire to have him return. And in 2009 he will be back, debuting with the Tasmanian and Adelaide Symphony Orchestras in a set of four concerts in March.
Have a look at this. His concert with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra was cleverly and whimsically portrayed in an effective marketing campaign: "The Return of the Ning".
Feng's solo CD, "Mr. Paganini" on the Channel Classics label, which had already garnered critical acclaim from Audiophile Audition and Gramophone magazine, was given five stars by Dominion Post Critic John Button.
During 2008, Feng Ning also undertook extensive tours of China, made his debut in Akron, Ohio, and received plenty of accolades along the way, some of which are included in Feng's updated reviews page. Efforts are underway now to entice Mr Ning back to Australasia for an extensive tour again in 2010.
Conductor Vladimir Verbitsky also completed a major tour of Australasia in 2008 with guest appearances in Adelaide, Hobart, Brisbane, Dunedin and Christchurch as well as multiple engagements in Perth. He conducted Alexander Ivashkin in Christchurch, and again at the Great Hall of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic in October, where he had conducted Barry Douglas earlier in the year. Vladimir was also conductor of the Third David Oistrakh International Violin Competition in October at the Moscow Conservatory. After which, he gave concerts in Novosibirsk, Voronezh, Saratov and Omsk.
During the year VAI Music issued a new DVD of a recording Vladimir had made years ago with Emil Gilels, entitled: Emil Gilels Live in Moscow, Vol. 5 (VAI DVD 4471)
Vladimir returns for three concerts in Perth in June 2009, then conducts all three of the 2009 Young Performers Awards semifinals, in Perth, Brisbane and Hobart. He makes a second appearance in Brisbane again in September.
In 2010, Vladimir returns for three performances with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra the week of 14 June, conducts the Young Performers Awards semifinals in Perth July 5, and continues his association with the West Australian Youth Orchestra on 18 July 2010.
Pedro made his Australian debut in June with a performance of John Psathas' View from Olympus in Hobart, in a concert conducted by Marc Taddei and also featuring New Zealand pianist Michael Houstoun. Just beforehand, he stopped in Wellington for a performance of John's vibraphone concerto "Psyzygysm" with New Zealand's Stroma ensemble, and Gareth Farr's "Dialogue" with Jeremy Fitzsimons, before guest lecturing at the Victorian College Of The Arts, and performing a concert with Peter Neville, Eugene Ughetti and students in Melbourne.
Before that he toured Japan and was featured on the cover of Komaki Music magazine. He’s released two new CDs this year: Michael Mantler's Vibraphone/Marimba Concerto on ECM Records with Kammerensemble Neue Musik, conducted by Roland Kluttig, and Gabriel Erkoreka's marimba concerto "Afrika" with the Orquesta de la Comunidad de Madrid, conducted by José Ramón Encinar, on the Stradivarius label.
In addition to conducting the Portuguese Chamber Orchestra, Carneiro worked with Mexican composer Rodrigo Sigal, gave performances of the Milhaud Marimba/Vibes concerto in Helskinki and performed Rosauro's Marimba Concerto at the Wiener Konzerthaus with the Vienna Chamber Orchestra. He lectured at the Juilliard School in New York and at the Eastman School in Rochester enroute to making his PASIC debut in Austin, Texas, where he presented a recital featuring Oliveira, Psathas and Xenakis.
Plans are developing now for a return tour of New Zealand in 2010, with an exciting new work by a famous New Zealand composer.
Werner Andreas Albert’s follow-up engagement with the Christchurch Symphony was extremely well received in March of this year with repeated public invitations to return. He'll have the first opportunity of doing so in April 2009, when he's been invited to conduct the final event of the Adam Cello Concerto Competition with the Christchurch Symphony.
In the meantime, Werner has accepted new engagements in Cologne, Hamburg and Saarbrücken for 2009, where he will make numerous recordings with the prestigious Northwest German Radio Orchestra and Cologne Radio and give concerts.
Later in 2009, he returns to Tokyo, where he will conduct an all-Bruckner program in November. See our new Asia Tours Page for further details.
In New Zealand, Werner continues his association with the Southern Sinfonia, conducting concerts in May and again in July in Dunedin.
Putting the Max in MAXIMA
Many new developments for Maxima Artist Management have also taken place this year. We are delighted to welcome two of New Zealand's top composers for limited representation to our roster: John Psathas and Gao Ping. We're also working in Australia and New Zealand with exceptional pianist Sa Chen (陈萨), and representing here and abroad the Saguaro Trio. Maxima is also project managing a collaboration between John Chen and the T'ang Quartet, introducing the young Chinese prodigy pianist Cunmo Yin, spearheading cultural cooperation between New Zealand and China, and representing conductor Andrew Mogrelia. For ease of reference, download our roster of artists and projects now.
Our offices will be closed 23 December - 11 January. We wish you a very Merry Christmas and look forward to working with you in the new year.
John Ballard
Considerable care has been taken to ensure accuracy in this report. If you find any errors, we would be grateful for your advice.
