Greytown Concert – Mark Menzies and Guests –

Old and New Music on Old and New Instruments
Virtuoso violinist Professor Mark Menzies, originally from Hawkes Bay, has returned to New Zealand after 20 years in the States, to take up the position of Head of Performance at the Canterbury University School of Music. While Mark, who has established a world-wide reputation as a violinist, violist, pianist, composer, conductor and teacher, has promised to play “audience friendly” music in Greytown, he has actually specialised in contemporary music.
For his 47th birthday he gave a series of four solo violin and viola recitals of old and new music in seven days, including a performance of La Lontananza by Luigi Nono, a 45 minute work for solo violin and eight channels of violin-irradiated electronic music, performed off 8 to 10 music stands. The player is required to move from one stand to another, often zigzagging around the space, producing a dynamic range from what is only audible to a dog, to the loudest sounds the instrument can humanly make. The result is complex and everchanging: from sweet singing to effects of horror, ghostly calm drones, and wondrous calming themes.

The concert at 57 Wood St, Greytown, at 4pm on Sunday 23 April, will be rather different! Mark plans to bring fellow musicians from Christchurch and play a varied range of music for strings and piano, ranging from Biber and Bach, to excerpts from his own composition 22 New Zealand Birds – memories related to birds from his Hawkes Bay farm upbringing. The players will perform some of the music on violins, violas and cello made by Greytown lawyer-turned-luthier, Ed Cooke.
To book, ring Ed and Juliet Cooke on 06 304 9497 after 10 April. Admission $25, students $10.