For Wellington duo Hammers & Horsehair, being on tour means taking Mews' 19th-century Broadwood square piano and Ibell's 18th Century cello with them.
For Wellington duo Hammers & Horsehair, being on tour means taking Mews' 19th-century Broadwood square piano and Ibell's 18th Century cello with them.
Fancy a trip back in time to the romantic era of classical music?
Aroha Music Society is pleased to offer audiences some time travel back to a candlelit atmosphere, listening to romantic music from Germany, Austria and Bohemia composed in the early 19th Century.
The hardly smoochy named Hammers and Horsehair will present the event.
Douglas Mews will play a Broadwood 1843 square piano, accompanied by Robert Ibell on his 18th Century cello.
Soprano Rowena Simpson is also on the Hammers and Horsehair tour, reading short pieces reflecting the mood of the music and contribution of German speaking musicians to life in New Zealand.
Hammers and Horsehair will determine the exact programme on the night but the audience will definitely hear the popular Sonata in A for Piano and Cello Op 69 by Beethoven, along with works of Schubert and Schumann.
Incidentally, the talented trio's name is taken from hammers representing the hammers inside a piano and horsehair the strings on a cello. As for the atmospheric candlelight, LED lights will play that part.
See Hammers and Horsehair during their national tour, Thursday April 26, Turner Centre, Kerikeri, at 7.30pm.
Artist's work is about arranging space Kerikeri artist Catherine Dunn is to hold an exhibition of new mixed media painting works.
Titled Negotiating Space, the collection will showcase Dunn's eclectic style, incorporating tactile multimedia fusions, intaglio print making and acrylic painting — from vivid figurative works to airy, abstract compositions.
One of the new works in Catherine Dunn's upcoming exhibition.
"Art is an expression of my spiritual journey," says Dunn. "I don't always know where a work will lead me, and I remain detached from the end result.
"It is being immersed in the creative process itself that enables progress to be made." Negotiating Space will be at the Turner Centre, Kerikeri, from May 4 to June 23.
Libraries open doors to Music Month
Kaikohe Library will host local musicians and encourage up-and-coming talent during the entire month. With the call-out via posters, word of mouth, social media and invitations encouraging school music students to take part, the library is offering students an opportunity to participate in a public performance for their music credits — or just for fun.
Far North libraries will be doing their bit to support New Zealand Music Month, the annual promotion of Kiwi music in May.
''Having seen some of our youth pop in and make use of our guitars, I realised we have some special talent which is often unrecognised,'' Kaikohe librarian Emma Saville-Burley said.
"Let's create an opportunity to celebrate and showcase some of our kids doing great things.
"This month long event isn't just for the youth though. We have an accomplished violinist and other musicians interested in participating and we welcome others to take up the challenge."
Depending on the performance, the library can provide indoor or outdoor spaces. Musicians are welcome to borrow the Kaikohe Library's guitar or bring their own instruments. iPod touches will be available to record performances.
Kawakawa Library will also have an acoustic guitar people can use and four iPod touches to record local performances and garage bands during the month of May.
Anyone interested in performing good Kiwi tunes is welcome to call both libraries and book in a 30 minute or hour sessions throughout May.
"At Kaikohe, we are hoping to have an all-day concert day in the last week with a culmination of many performances outside in the Marino Court," Saville-Burley said.
Te Ahu Ahu centre in Kaitaia has invited local musicians and music teachers to perform live in the atrium on Friday, May 18 to celebrate New Zealand Music Month.
NZ Music Month is an annual event managed by the New Zealand Music Commission Te Reo Reka o Aotearoa to celebrate and grow awareness of home-grown music.
Love Opua helps R. Tucker Thompson find safe harbour After more than 25 years working out of a small shed at the bottom of Opua Wharf, the R Tucker Thompson Sail Training Trust has well and truly outgrown the facilities.
The old building used by the R Tucker Tompson Trust has gone.
In all kinds of weather, sometimes with makeshift tarps and tents under which ship maintenance work was being done, the trust has had to meet and greet its 16 voyages each year from the former harbour board's incinerator building.
The trust's landlord, Love Opua - the local Community Ratepayers and Residents Association, has agreed to build a new shed for the iconic sailing training and tourism enterprise.
The new premises will provide decent office facilities, a space for crew meetings, and a large space big enough for spars to fit in during maintenance. There will also be shelter so families don't have to stand on the wharf in the rain pre- and post-voyages.
Dr Brian Hepburn, chairman for Love Opua, said the association had been working on the project with the R. Tucker Thompson Trust for 18 months following the trust's original request for space more appropriate to their needs.
Dismantling the old shed started on Monday and building will start in the next two weeks. "We expect that the trust will be able to move into the fully completed building in October, although parts will be completed in stages," Hepburn said.
Big blow for engine Gabriel's boiler Gabriel needs a new boiler. The boiler that powers Bay of Islands Vintage Railway Trust's star turn, the famous circa 1910 steam engine and Kawakawa tourist attraction, can't be repaired.
Bay of Islands Vintage Railway operations manager Mike Bradshaw in 2017 with a stripped-back and rather sorry looking Gabriel, the trust's 1927 steam locomotive.
The 100-plus-year-old boiler was constructed of steel which is no longer safe to weld.
The news has come as a blow to the group which keeps that engine and other trains in its railway yard on track.
The trust is fully committed to getting Gabriel back into service but the need for a new boiler means the engine won't be back chugging through town for the next 12 to 18 months. Instead of raising around $80,000 to repair the old boiler, the trust now faces the challenge of finding $200,000-plus for a new one.
So far, $27,000 has been raised via donations and Givealittle for the intended repairs, money that will be transferred to the new cause.
Do you have some Bay of Islands and mid-North news to share? Please contact Lindy Laird who is filling in for Peter de Graaf while he has a break. Email lindy.laird@northernadvocate.co.nz or reporters@northernadvocate.co.nz, or phone the Kerikeri office, 09 407 3287.
