Waikanae Music Society announces diverse 2025 season line-up

Italian-Croatian pianist Ida Pelliccioli will perform in Waikanae in February next year.

The Waikanae Music Society’s 2025 season has been announced, and promises a varied year of music.

The year opens on February 16 with a piano recital from young Italian-Croatian pianist Ida Pelliccioli. This will be her first visit to New Zealand, and her programme will include music by Beethoven, Busoni, Janecek and Rachmaninoff.

On March 16 there will be a mix of mainly French Impressionist music from the Aurum Trio (flute, harp and cello).

The April 27 concert, titled “A Touch of Italy”, will feature soprano Lilia Carpinelli and pianist Matteo Napoli performing a range of Italian music from the Baroque period to the great operatic arias of Verdi and Puccini and ending with a feast of Italian folk song.

The Amici Ensemble are a permanent and popular feature of the Waikanae series. On May 18, Donald Armstrong will be joined by Alexander McFarlane, Andrew Joyce and Jian Liu for a concert of piano quartets by Francaix, Faure and Brahms.

On June 29, the society will host a concert by an Australian String Quartet for the first time. The Flanders Quartet will also come with a bonus – two of New Zealand’s most treasured musicians will be part of this concert. Violinist Wilma Smith is a member of the quartet and pianist Michael Houstoun will be joining them to perform Dvorak’s brilliant piano quintet.

The Ghost Piano Trio will return on August 3 to perform the work that gave the group its name – Beethoven’s famous “Ghost Trio”. The programme also includes music by Takemitsu and Shostakovich.

Waikanae Music Society Charitable Trust each year awards scholarships to outstanding young New Zealand musicians to help them further their studies. On August 24, one of the 2018 award-winners, Tony Yan Tong Chen, will return to perform a piano recital.

The season will end on Sunday, September 21 with a performance of Schubert’s Octet in F major, D. 803 for wind and strings. The well-known Aroha String Quartet are joined in this performance by four NZSO and Orchestra Wellington musicians on clarinet, bassoon, horn and double bass.

All concerts will be held in the Waikanae Memorial Hall at 2.30pm on Sunday afternoons.

For more information, pick up a brochure from libraries or visit the website www.waikanaemusic.org.nz. Enquiries can be made via phone on 04 905 6070 or 022 345 5316.