KEY POINTS:
Expect an air of celebration tomorrow night when the New Zealand Trio brings its latest programme of Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Psathas and Gardner home to Auckland.
The past few weeks have seen the group touring these pieces throughout the country under the auspices of Chamber Music New Zealand.
"Audiences have been really receptive to the variety in the programme," says violinist Justine Cormack. "There are huge changes in pace, mood and style and we think the juxtaposition brings out different things in different pieces."
Cormack is a familiar figure to Auckland audiences. She was the APO's concertmaster for five years until she relinquished the post in 2005 to form the NZ Trio with cellist Ashley Brown and pianist Sarah Watkins. But she has taken on concerto duties with the orchestra, playing the music of composers such as Piazzolla and Lutoslawski.
Cormack's passion for the contemporary is shared by Brown and Watkins and the three regularly commission works from New Zealand composers. Their latest acquisitions, James Gardner's blessed unrest and John Psathas' Helix, feature tomorrow night.
"I love the variety when you commission because you don't really know what you are going to get," Cormack says. "You simply take what's given to you and try to make something of it.
"The final test for a new work is the actual concert performance, when you have to send it out there. Until then, it hasn't really existed properly in terms of its full life."
The word "evolution" crops up frequently during our conversation. Cormack is pleased the Gardner and Psathas pieces have had "the chance to evolve because we've played them seven times".
Gardner agrees. Catching up with his piece after weeks of touring, "he commented how we seemed to be putting ourselves into the music now, whereas at first we were simply involved with getting the music off the page. It had become part of us."
Being able to work alongside Gardner and Psathas has been invaluable. "You can't get that from composers who aren't around any more," Cormack says.
Psathas' Helix finds the composer dipping into the same Greek heritage that created such high-profile works as his View from Olympus, which the APO programmed last year. "The first movement of Helix is heavily inspired by ancient Greek dance rhythms, having grown out of all the work that John has done transcribing Greek folk musicians," Cormack says.
"It's really rhythmical and yet there is something deeply serious there. The second movement, which John describes as a tragic lament, has an intensity that runs through the whole piece."
Yet, fear not, those who have thrilled to the adrenalin rides of Psathas' Rhythm Spike and Matre's Dance won't be disappointed. "It's very, very virtuosic," Cormack says. "There are a lot of notes in there."
Chamber music has been a part of Cormack's life since she first played with Watkins 23 years ago at school. They formed the New Zealand Ensemble and, six years ago brought out a CD of Debussy, Janacek and Bartok sonatas on Atoll Records. Now, as resident artists at the Auckland University School of Music, they are tutoring students in the Debussy work they recorded.
"It's great to be that intimate with young people who are exploring music," Cormack says with fervour. "It keeps you in touch with their energy for music and with a different community.
"It's valuable to have to consider how and why you do what you do - what makes the music work or not work. It keeps you honest."
PERFORMANCE
* What: New Zealand Trio
* Where and when: University Music Theatre, tomorrow 8pm
