I don’t mean to objectify him or anything, but Grayson Masefield is buff. I am mesmerised by his biceps, almost to the point that I forget I’m speaking to an international-class musician, a multiple world champion in his chosen instrument, the accordion. His physique and his musical facility are, to an extent, related.
“My accordion weighs 15kg,” he explains. “Any movement can impact sound and keyboard positioning, so I’ve focused on building strength and stamina to control that, and to prevent disruptions and maintain muscle memory.”
Which is probably difficult when you’re swooping and swaying on stage, as he does in performance with his tango quintet, Aotango, which gives concerts in Auckland, Palmerston North and Wellington next month. The shows are programmed around International Tango Day, and in Auckland and Wellington will be part concert, part milonga, with food, drink and dancing. The Auckland concert is free for kids.
The other members of the quintet – Sam Swindells, Somi Kim, Andrew Beer and Gordon Hill – are all well-known pros, and apart from gifted jazz guitarist Swindells, make their living in the classical world.
Masefield has serious classical chops, too. He has released an album of baroque arrangements, and earned a performance master’s degree in Lausanne, Switzerland. By the time he entered the conservatoire, Masefield was already a world champion. “It was great; in recitals I got full marks,” he laughs. “It was good to go back to the theory. And one of the things about conservatories is that you have all these musicians around you and you can create anything you want.”
He found violinist Beer, Auckland Philharmonia’s concertmaster who was featured in this column a couple of weeks ago, through a mutual contact in the University of Auckland’s music department, where Masefield teaches. He and Beer also perform as a duo, and in March they played in China, where there is a large accordion community. “It was at a small venue of about 300 people,” Masefield says. He expected a bigger crowd. “Just before we went on stage, the organiser told us that 600,000 people had tuned in to the livestream.” Ah.
Masefield has big plans for the quintet here, too, including commissioning composers to write new music for them. When it’s suggested to him that Claire Cowan and Victoria Kelly, for example, would be good candidates, Masefield becomes suddenly coy.
“I can’t name names, but there are a lot of things we can do,” he says. “One of the coolest things is that Aotango is a vehicle for these world-class musicians to let loose. And they do.”
Aotango play Westlake Girls’ High School Event Centre, Auckland, December 6; Globe Theatre, Palmerston North, December 9; Public Trust Hall, Wellington, December 10.
