What's on for 2026 - Classical music

Classical music

The Dunedin Symphony Orchestra is celebrating its 60th anniversary, so for 2026 is putting the spotlight on the people who have helped shape the orchestra.

That includes Jack Speirs, one of the orchestra’s first musical directors, with his Fanfare, and principal guest conductor (1997-2006) Nicholas Braithwaite as well as performers who have performed with the orchestra throughout their careers, flutist Bridget Douglas, bass baritone Jonathan Lemalu and soprano Anna Leese. Pianist Michael Houstoun also makes a return.

In a first, the DSO will collaborate with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in May. Sitting side by side on stage, the two orchestras will perform Mahler’s Second Symphony Resurrection and Dunedin composer and composition lecturer Anthony Ritchie’s Fanfare Kotahitanga.

As it is also the 100th anniversary of the University of Otago’s School of Music, three instrument lecturers will perform Beethoven’s Triple Concerto as soloists, violinist Tessa Petersen (also the DSO’s concertmaster), cellist Heleen du Plessis (also the DSO’s principal cello) and pianist Terence Dennis.

The DSO will also perform two world premieres of Ritchie’s, one being his Cello Concerto with soloist Wellingtonian Inbal Megiddo.

There will also be two family concerts — Kiri and Lou, which reimagines the New Zealand children’s series for orchestra, and John Williams’ "Movie Magic", which features music from Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Harry Potter, among others.

The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra is finally returning concert levels in Otago to its pre-Covid-19 levels, bringing three performances.

On top of the collaboration with the DSO, it is performing "Serenade", featuring New Zealand conductor Tianyi Lu and as soloist NZSO principal cellist Andrew Joyce, in October in Dunedin, Oamaru and Queenstown, while it brings Beethoven 9, the grand finale of the NZSO’s mainstage season, conducted by Gemma New and featuring City Choir Dunedin, to the Dunedin Town Hall in November. The concert also features Dame Gillian Whitehead’s Hoata.

Chamber Music New Zealand has four shows booked in for Dunedin this year, beginning with the Phileo Quartet in July on their first tour of New Zealand. Drawn from the Vienna Philharmonic, the quartet will present a programme echoing the sound, style and traditions of the philharmonic.

In August, a group of international musicians dedicated to bringing the music of composer John Psathas to life will tour. The John Psathas Group of pianists Dawn Hardwick (London) and Stephen Gosling (New York) and percussionists Katarzyna Mycka (Essen) and Fabian Ziegler (Zurich) aim to present a programme that shapes a vision for the future of chamber music.

They will be followed later in the month by Dutch piano duo and brothers Lucas and Arthur Jussen and at the end the year a visit by NZTrio with support from double bass Damien Eckersley and Alexander McFarlane on viola to perform Gareth Farr’s Ahi.

Baroque music is also coming back to Dunedin’s St Paul’s Cathedral in February with the world premiere of Ritchie’s harpsichord concerto, Four Seasons in One Day. The Baroque Music Community and Educational Trust of New Zealand is touring internationally acclaimed Czech solo flutist Julie Brana alongside an ensemble of baroque specialists, including cellist Tomas Hurnik, Rakuto Kurano and Szabolcs Illes. The tour also goes to Oamaru and Rippon Vineyard.