Caitlin Morris and Andrew Atkins - Cello and Piano

The next concert in the Globe Sunday Matinee series will feature two young musicians who have already made a mark in New Zealand concert music.

Pianist Andrew Atkins was raised in Palmerston North and was initially taught by Guy Donaldson. He went on to study piano under the esteemed tuition of Dr Jian Liu and Richard Mapp. He performed Beethoven’s Second Piano Concerto with the Manawatu Sinfonia in 2013, and Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto and Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto with the Manawatu Sinfonia in 2019 and 2021 respectively. Andrew also completed his Graduate Diploma in Conducting (2017) under the tuition of Kenneth Young and has gone on to develop a love and passion for conducting that gained him the position of Assistant Conductor to Orchestra Wellington 2017-2018. He has also conducted the Manawatu Sinfonia, Kapiti Concert Orchestra, Wellington Chamber Orchestra and the New Zealand School of Music Orchestra. He is also the current Musical Director of the Wairarapa Singers.

Andrew’s wife Caitlin Morris will be making her first appearance in the Globe Sunday Matinee series alongside Andrew. Caitlin studied at the New Zealand School of Music under the esteemed tuition of Inbal Megiddo and Rolf Gjelsten. During her time at the NZSM she received the Victoria University Excellence Scholarship, and the Roy Jack Prize for merit in string playing. Caitlin also has a passion for composition and completed a Masters in Fine Arts in Music in 2018. She has performed as cello soloist with the Nelson Symphony Orchestra, The Marlborough Civic Orchestra, Tawa Orchestra and the Wairarapa Community Orchestra. Most recently Caitlin composed and recorded music for the New Zealand film 'A Girl Called Elvis.' Caitlin teaches string instruments throughout the Wairarapa and one of Caitlin and Andrew's combined projects was launching the Wairarapa Youth Orchestra in 2021.

The concert will feature a rare performance of Frederic Chopin’s sonata for cello and piano. It was the last piece Chopin ever published or performed and he was terminally ill at the time. The first movement is a song of farewell, particularly to his partner with whom he had split. On his deathbed he asked for it to be played, but could not bear to hear more than the opening bars. The sonata was a great favourite of Katherine Mansfield, who was a cellist of near-professional ability.

The concert will also include three other pieces by East European composers, two of which have relevance for these difficult times.

The Romanian composer George Enescu, after World War 2 and the Soviet occupation of Romania, chose to remain in Paris. Many of Enescu's works were influenced by Romanian folk music. Pablo Casals described Enescu as "the greatest musical phenomenon since Mozart"and "one of the greatest geniuses of modern music". Yehudi Menuhin, Enescu's most famous pupil, described Enescu as "the most extraordinary human being, the greatest musician and the most formative influence" he had ever experienced.

Andrew Atkins made an impression in Palmerston North in his playing of Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto in 2019. Rachmaninov had composed that piece in 1901, the same year that he wrote his sonata for cello and piano. The two works have clear connections in expression and musical ideas. The slow movement that will feature in this programme is a piece of extraordinary lyricism and sadness.

The concert concludes with a light piece by Ukrainian composer and pianist Nikolai Kapustin, whose compositions fuse the traditions of both classical piano repertoire and improvisational jazz.

Admission is by donation, recommended from $5.