Aroha Quartet's concert to explore Light & Dark

One of New Zealand’s finest chamber music ensembles, the Wellington-based Aroha String Quartet, will play in Wellington on Wednesday 26 September.

Their dynamic Light & Dark concert explores a wide range of moods and sound worlds. It will be performed at St Andrew’s on The Terrace at 7:30 pm.

Aroha Quartet first violinist Haihong Liu said “Our Light & Dark programme takes the audience on a journey from light, to dark and back again. We love how these four pieces show the power of music to represent and bring out human emotions.”

The concert begins with the warmth and brightness of Haydn’s “Emperor” Quartet Op 76 No 3, with its famous variations on an anthem he wrote for Kaiser Franz II. It then enters the pulsating, elegaic world of the evocative ‘Toccatina' by New Zealand composer Ross Carey.

The dark, sardonic mood of Shostakovich's String Quartet No 11 Op 122, a profound work in seven short movements, is swept away by the final work, Dvorak’s gorgeous, much-loved “American” Quartet Op 96.

Founded in 2004 and acclaimed as demonstrating "accomplished brilliance, soulfulness and sublime intensity in perfect balance and tonal unity" (The Dominion Post), the Aroha String Quartet is known for its passionate musicality, impressive technique, and multicultural innovation.

This concert is part of a thirteen-concert series the Aroha Quartet is performing around New Zealand in 2018.

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