Auckland Piano Festival goes national

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Auckland International Piano Festival goes national

The third annual Auckland International Piano Festival is opens next month at Auckland’s Raye Freedman Centre. Increased demand for tickets from outside of Auckland sees this years’ event holding two concerts in Hamilton and three concerts each in both Napier and Wellington. The main programme in Auckland is being held from Friday 4 July to Sunday 13 July 2008 and will present a series of five recitals by artists with international reputations and a parallel series of fourteen masterclasses in which talented young students will work with these and other well known pianists.

As the only event of its kind in Australasia, the Auckland International Piano Festival Founded has established a wide and loyal following, not just in Auckland but throughout New Zealand. Founded in 2006 by Tamás Vesmás, the AIPF quickly attracted a public eager to hear both mainstream and also sometimes neglected works from the piano repertoire. Presented over the course of one week, the Festival offers patrons the chance to enjoy this great music as part of a highly concentrated experience rather than as a series of dispersed one-off recitals. Students also benefit from the opportunity to hear their eminent teachers on the concert platform and to be coached by them in one-on-one masterclasses. These are eagerly attended by members of the public intrigued by the rare opportunity to eavesdrop on musicians’ work as they examine aspects of piano technique and musical interpretation.

The 2008 Auckland International Piano Festival will see return visits to New Zealand by the renowned Italian pianist Marcella Crudeli and the Chinese pianist Yingdi Sun. The highly acclaimed John Chen, taking time away from his busy international schedule, will also give a recital and two masterclasses which are sure to attract a public eager to understand more about this fine artist. Festival founder Tamás Vesmás will himself play a concert featuring two of his favourite composers for the piano, Haydn and Brahms. The talented Taiwanese pianist Rueibin Chen will be making his first visit to New Zealand. Masterclasses will be taken by these artists and also by Rae de Lisle (John Chen’s teacher), David Guerin and Read Gainsford.

The Festival acknowledges the support of the University of Auckland School of Music, Lewis Eady, Radio New Zealand Concert and David Shin-Ya Yu of Kokako Concerts.

Further information can be found on the festival website at www.aipf.co.nz or www.iticket.co.nz.
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