CMNZ Series - Voices at the End: CANCELLED

Michael Houstoun - Piano
John Psathas - composer

John Psathas
Voices at the End

Prologue Mitote
Part 1 Business as Usual
Part 2 The Great Unravelling
Part 3 The Great Turning
Epilogue Chrysalis

John Psathas
Second Hand Time
Part 1 The Nature of Reality
Part 2 The Aesthetics of Violence

Two of New Zealand’s most respected musicians, pianist Michael Houstoun and composer John Psathas, come together for an extraordinary
one-hour programme in which they explore through music, text, and film some of the most pressing issues confronting our world today.

Following the stunning world premiere at the 2021 Auckland Festival of the Arts, Psathas has created a new piece, Voices at the End (originally for 6 pianos), for solo pianist, an epic cinematic audio soundtrack, and a brand-new full-length synchronised film that weaves in around the music.
Voices at the End was inspired by the film Planetary featuring the author and environmental activist Joanna Macy.
In his latest work, Secondhand Time, Psathas explores an entirely new format by combining the emotional power and excitement of virtuosic musical performance with a pre-recorded cinematic audio soundtrack (drawn from real and electronic worlds). He integrates these with synchronised projected text that delivers social commentary on current and crucial issues, such as runaway economic models and their impact on society, education, climate change, current life and culture, and the future prospects of the human race. Secondhand Time draws from the documentary work of Adam Curtis, and the writings of Henry Giroux, Brad Evans, Svetlana Alexievich, and Noam Chomsky.