 Michael, Christine, and Anne conduct "the draw" Photo credit: Simon Darby, Alpine Images COMPETITION LAUNCHED! 1 June 2007, 7:30pm, Memorial Hall A Powhiri (pronounced Poh-Fee-Ree) kicked off the event in the Memorial Hall and was a thrilling welcome to all of our overseas artists. A Powhiri is a traditional Maori welcome, and was followed by the Haka - a fearsome challenge by warriors as they go into battle. Ray Chen, on behalf of the competitors, thanked the community and the competition, and in the appropriate traditional response, all 18 competitors then sang a traditional Maori song. It was a truly moving moment. The little Memorial Hall in Queenstown, here at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, was the stage for some extraordinary performances by extraordinary judges and the competition's collaborating artists. Dene and his chamber music partner (and wife!) Irena opened the concert with some welcoming remarks to the competitors from the judges, then offered the fabulous Handel-Halvorssen Passacaglia, Pierre and Sarah soared through two movements of the Franck Sonata, and the NZTrio was electrifying in a recently-commissioned work by NZ-er John Psathas. The second half was begun with Mark and a witty introduction to a jaw-dropping rendition of Berio's Sequenza VIII, and the concert closed with a marvelous performance of the Schumann Piano Quartet played by Boris, Irena, Ashley and Bernadette. Besides a few thank you speeches, the official draw was held determining the order of competitors' performances. The order is:
Click HERE to see more photographs of the Competition launch! |
