Flingamingo Tango, The Tin Can Band, The Lion in the Meadow, The Man from the Land of Fandango and Wonderful Me are just a few of the Mahy works Norman has delightfully brought to life through original compositions.
Young people and lovers of Mahy's imagination will be engaged and entertained through narrative and interactive performances by Georgia Jamieson Emms and Robert Tucker.
Classical soprano Georgia Jamieson Emms - who is also a teacher, translator, diction coach, librettist and the founder of Wanderlust Opera - grew up in Featherston, trained in New Zealand and sang professionally for several years in Hamburg, Germany.
Opera fans would have perhaps seen Baritone Robert Tucker most recently in the New Zealand Opera production of Eight Songs for a Mad King at the Auckland and New Zealand Festivals earlier this year, and more recently in Christchurch.
Robert completed a Bachelor of Music at the University of Otago in 2004 and spent time living in Australia and the UK before returning to New Zealand in 2012.
He was an Emerging Performer at the Australian Opera Studio in 2005 and is a current Freemasons Opera Scholar with New Zealand Opera.
Made for Opus: Composer Encounters is a one-hour, early-evening concert in which audience members have the chance to interact with some of New Zealand's most respected composers and the musicians of Opus Orchestra.
Each composer will introduce their work, and after the performances the audience is invited to stay on for a Q&A session with them.
The Made for Opus: Composer Encounters programme includes Ross Harris' Three Pieces for Orchestra, each inspired by a European composer - Mahler's Vienna, Wagner's Lucerne and Schumann's Düsseldorf.
Martin Lodge's Pan Dreaming will feature Agnes Harmath on flute.
Finally, Gareth Farr's Marimba Concerto – which was written for Opus Orchestra in 2019 – will be performed with Tauranga's Yoshiko Tsuruta on marimba.
Arts laureate Ross Harris is one of New Zealand's leading composers. He has written more than 200 compositions including opera, symphonic music, chamber music, klezmer and electronic music.
He has been a finalist in the prestigious SOUNZ Contemporary Award more times than any other New Zealand composer and won the award four times.
Gareth Farr is a leading composer of contemporary music in New Zealand.
Also an accomplished percussionist, Gareth's music has been performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the Auckland Philharmonia and the NZ String Quartet, among others, and he has composed for ballet, theatre, contemporary dance, and TV.
Tauranga-born Martin Lodge is a New Zealand composer known for his eclectic and individual style.
He has received commissions from the major performance ensembles in New Zealand including the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, the Ogen Trio and the New Zealand Chamber Soloists, as well as from leading performers across the world.
The details
• Opus Orchestra short concerts
• When: Saturday, March 6, 1pm Mahy Magic, 5pm Made for Opus: Composer Encounters
• Where: St Luke's Church
