Following the highly successful Hawke's Bay District Contest the previous weekend, this regional final featured the best groups selected from district contests held throughout the lower half of the North Island.
Three groups from Hawke's Bay - the winning group, the Moskowski Trio of violinists Rachael Mannering and Ellen Murfitt and pianist Tobias Tedjamukti, and the Herman Trio and the quartet Birds of a Feather - plus six groups from Wellington and one each from Gisborne, Palmerston North and Whanganui, played for visiting adjudicators, pianist Emma Sayers from Wellington and violinist Graham McPhail from Auckland, in the two sessions at 11.30am and 4.30pm.
These were both excellent concerts with some high-class performances.
At the end of each concert, the adjudicators made helpful comments, praising the performers for their commitment and for the many hours they had spent practising for the competition.
Of particular note was the quality of the presentation and stage deportment of all the groups who played.