Aroha String Quartet in Waikanae

Aroha String Quartet in Waikanae

Programme

Haydn: String Quartet in G, Opus 33, No 5
Piazzolla: Tango Ballet Suite
Anthony Ritchie: Whapatipua
Mendelssohn: String Quartet No 6 in F minor

The Aroha String Quartet will make a welcome return to Kapiti when it plays for the Waikanae Music Society on Sunday 10 April. The quartet, founded in 2004, is one of New Zealand’s most distinguished chamber music groups and is a favourite with Waikanae audiences. Famed for the impressive technique of its members and its varied and interesting programmes, the Aroha Quartet regularly tours nationwide and also tours overseas.

Originally the quartet was formed by four Chinese friends, all professional musicians living in New Zealand. Over the years two of the original players have left and now founding members Haihong Liu (violin and leader) and Zhongxian Jin (viola) have been joined by well-known cellist Robert Ibell and more recently by violinist Simeon Broom. Haihong, Robert and Simeon are all members of the NZSO as well as keen chamber musicians. Zhongxian, formerly a professor of violin and chamber music in China, now works as a free-lance musician and teacher.

The quartet’s programme covers a wide range of styles from different countries and different eras. The audience will be transported from the wit and elegance of 18th century Vienna in a Haydn trio to the dance halls of Buenos Aries in Piazzolla’s Tango Ballet Suite, and then to the mountain landscape around Queenstown in Anthony Ritchie’s evocative Whakapatua.

The major work in the second half of the programme is Mendelssohn’s last quartet, No 6 in F minor, a piece that was written in response to the sudden death of his beloved sister Fanny, and which was only completed a few months before his own untimely death at the age of 38. Filled with drama and tenderness, this is Mendelssohn’s most impassioned composition.

The concert, in the Waikanae Memorial Hall, starts at 2.30pm. Tickets can be purchased from New World Waikanae, Lush Design Gallery in Raumati and Moby Dickens Books in Paraparaumu Beach. Door sales will be available. Enquiries are welcome on 04 905 6070