Gift of Music

BOP Symphonia’s 2022 season opens with an extraordinary young soloist and an eclectic selection of musical offerings, with guest conductor Michael Joel.

Beethoven’s animated overture The Creatures of Prometheus depicts Prometheus on the run from the other gods.

Chopin’s 2nd Piano Concerto features 12-year-old Shan Liu. Shan studies with Stephen de Pledge from Auckland University School of Music, who recommends him in glowing terms. Shan has won many prizes in NZ and elsewhere, including several prestigious international awards. He was the youngest ever finalist in the 2020 NZ National Junior Piano Competition.

The romanticism of Schumann’s Overture, Scherzo and Finale – in effect a 3 movement symphony – is followed by Stravinsky’s neo-classical Danses Concertantes– written for small orchestra with some tricky rhythms.

Guest conductor Michael Joel has recently returned to NZ from UK, where he conducted at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, among other appointments.