Kāpiti College chamber music trio make finals of secondary schools contest

The Juniper Trio.

For the second year in a row, Kāpiti College's Juniper Trio (last year's Evensong Trio) has made it into the central regional finals of the NZCT secondary schools chamber music contest.

The group members are Benjamin Carson (piano), Miranda Xu (violin) and Willow Whitfield (cello).

"Everything is different this year," Kāpiti College arts coordinator Margaret Jackson said.

"The musical competitions and activities which normally overlap and collide in term two secondary school calendar were either cancelled or drastically altered in terms of their delivery.

"The same was true for chamber music.

"Normally students head off to the Adam Concert Room at Victoria University and perform in front of a real live audience and receive feedback from a real live adjudicator.

"This year, all performances were recorded on video.

"The 10 Kāpiti College chamber music groups this year played music from the Baroque period right through to a work by New Zealand's very own John Psathas that was completed in 2012."

The Juniper Trio successfully progressed as far as the central regional finals.

"What this means in real terms is that the trio qualified for a place in the top 36 groups out of the entire country.

"The trio played the Trio élégiaque No. 1 in G Minor by Sergei Rachmaninoff, a work of staggering beauty and complexity.

"Rachmaninov composed what became his first Trio élégiaque within a few days in January 1892."