Musical Odyssey - Kerikeri & Whangarei

Northland Sinfonia and Whangarei Choral Society Conducted by Nigel Harrison with Atsuko Fukuoka (piano)

The Choral Society has previously sung the Elgar From the Banavrian Highlands, but not accompanied by an orchestra.   The Brahms Schicksalslied (Song of Fate) is completely new.  

             The Handel, Zadok the Priest, and the David Hamilton, May the Road Rise to Meet you, are very familiar to recent members of the Society; David Hamilton arranged the orchestral accompaniment for his work especially for this concert, for which we thank him.  

  The Chopin Bicentennial

             The soloist in the up-coming joint concert is local pianist Atsuko Fukuoka, who will perform the Chopin Piano Concert No 1.    This year is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Frederic Chopin, one of the great masters of romantic music.  

            Arthur Rubenstein once wrote, “Chopin endures.   His music is the universal language of human communication.   When I play Chopin I know I speak directly to the hearts of people.”  

             Chopin was born in a country dominated, and its culture oppressed by its neighbours, Russia, Prussia and Austria.    There is a liberation found in his music that transcends this background.