The 14th Piano Extravaganza will be held on King’s Birthday Monday, June 3, as part of the St Andrew’s Lunchtime concert series.
The first Piano Extravaganza concert was in 2011 with three of the five pianists at the inaugural show appearing at every Extravaganza since. Trish Tattle, Coralie Hunter and Catherine Macdonald are joined in 2024 by Bronwen Holdsworth, Tim Brown, Sean Scanlen, Sue McVey, Corey Lugtig and M-J Chen. They are pleased to welcome a new player in town, Christine Wheatley, who comes to Gisborne with a wealth of experience to her name.
This year they’re thrilled to present two pieces by local composer and Lytton High School music teacher, Sean Scanlen. His Variations on a Nursery Rhyme was composed late in 2020 and first played in their Extravaganza of 2021. They have since played it several times and are still enjoying finding new musical jokes and subtleties in the music.
Sesquicentennial March was written in 2023 for the Gisborne Civic Brass Band for their celebration of 150 years of brass band music in Tairāwhiti and premiered at their concert on April 7, 2023, where it was heard and enjoyed by some of the Extravaganza team. At their request, Sean arranged it for eight hands at two pianos in January 2024 and they are proud to premiere the piano arrangement at Piano Extravaganza XIV.
