KEY POINTS:
John Psathas thrust New Zealand into the world arena when he provided music for the Athens Olympics back in 2004. Little wonder then that the Auckland Chamber Orchestra has titled its next Composer Portrait concert, devoted to Psathas' music, The Man from Olympus.
The Wellington composer is particularly looking forward to the third airing of his 2004 piano concerto Three Psalms tomorrow night. He fully expects to be stunned by soloist Read Gainsford who, like pianists Stephen Gosling and Michael Houstoun before him, deals out "strongly grounded power playing".
"Concertos are more likely to get repeat performances," Psathas insists. "And they are more likely to be good ones. Part of the attraction with these works is that the soloists really want to prove themselves.
"The score itself is one of my absolute favourites," he adds, with almost paternal pride. "There's an ebullience and spontaneity to the first and third movements that are so real for me."
Another familiar piece on the ACO programme is the 1996 string quartet Abhisheka, which was most recently heard being danced to by the Royal New Zealand Ballet.
"I didn't mess around with the piece itself," Psathas laughs. "There are now solo parts and ensemble parts. The ensemble parts will be much richer so you get more of a sense of the soloist being embedded in thick, lush texture."
With its huge breathing chords and exotic curling melodies, Abhisheka invites total sonic immersion by its listeners but then similar things happen when Psathas sits down to compose.
"It's like going into a trance or being inhabited," he explains. "There is no real taking control of that experience, You just navigate and steer it the best you possibly can."
The man has been branching out of late. He is managing the music for Te Papa's new Our Space which opens this weekend. While museum publicity makes it all sound like another trip to the theme park, Psathas talks of creating "new musical paradigms for writing non-linear musical environments that ebb and flow according to the user in this new space".
It sounds like a cerebrally challenging experience but Psathas says he has commissioned music from the likes of SJD, James Duncan, the guitarist from Dimmer and Auckland studio wiz Steve Garden.
And so, while Te Papa's Our Space is celebrating its first weekend, Psathas will be in Auckland catching up with his Three Island Songs. ACO conductor Peter Scholes takes out his clarinet and joins James Tennant and Katherine Austin in a work that was one of the highlights of the Ogen Trio's recent Ahi CD.
"Peter's really got the chops for the high clarinet playing in the last movement and he has the feel of its Gypsy style," Psathas reflects. "And with the orchestral works alongside it, it's fantastic to have him there with the perception of a composer, as well as that of a conductor."
While Psathas says he has been happy to stretch his wings over the past year, he is looking forward to penning a Marimba Concerto for Pedro Carneiro.
"There's an unbelievable gravity pulling one away from one's core activity. The world exerts this incredible suction to get you away, and I have been so restless about making sure I have time to focus. In fact, I have arranged a whole six months to write the concerto.
"You talk to composers and so often they say, if I had had a little more time it would have been better. I don't want to end up looking at all my works and thinking that."
Performance
What: The Man From Olympus by John Psathas, with the Auckland Chamber Orchestra
Where and when: Auckland Town Hall Concert Chamber, tomorrow at 5pm
