Internationally renowned Dutch trombonist Jörgen van Rijen has reluctantly withdrawn from performing with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in April.

The virtuoso, who was to have made his New Zealand debut, made the decision after a recent injury impacted on his ability to play. He has been advised that it will take some time to recover before he can travel.

Van Rijen was to have performed with the NZSO the world premiere of celebrated American composer Andrew Norman’s Slip: Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra, written specifically for the trombonist.

For the NZSO’s Resonance concerts in Wellington and Auckland, van Rijen will now be replaced by the orchestra’s Section Principal Trombone David Bremner, one of the country’s finest trombonists.

Bremner will perform the New Zealand debut of another acclaimed Trombone Concerto, written by two-time Grammy Award winner Bryce Dessner. The concerto was first performed by van Rijen to critical acclaim in 2020.

NZSO Music Director Designate André de Ridder, who conducts the Resonance concerts, has worked several times with Dessner, including recordings. He led the NZSO for performances of another Dessner work, Mari, in 2023.

As a composer and multi-instrumentalist, Dessner is also widely known outside the orchestral world as a member of American band The National, and for collaborations with Taylor Swift, Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, Sufjan Stevens and other artists. He earned his first Oscar nomination this year for Best Original Song.

Dessner wrote his Trombone Concerto while isolating with his family in Southern France in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I have always loved the Trombone and how flexible it is as an instrument,” he has said.

Resonance also features two powerful and deeply moving works by music giants Maurice Ravel and Dmitri Shostakovich.

Ravel’s Pavane pour une infante défunte (Pavane for a Dead Princess), inspired by a courtly Renaissance dance, reimagines with elegance and warmth the story of a long‑ago Spanish princess.

Such is the scale and immensity of Shostakovich’s Eighth Symphony the NZSO will have 92 musicians on stage conducted by Maestro de Ridder. Written in 1943, the symphony is one of Shostakovich’s most powerful and tragic wartime works—and a deeply human response to suffering and resilience. Marked by a brooding intensity and emotional depth, it remains a clarion call for peace.

NZSO Chief Executive Marc Feldman says Resonance is a concert for our times.

“Maestro de Ridder brings us a powerful programme shaped by contrasts. From the ethereal glow of Ravel’s luminous sound world to the towering emotional force of Shostakovich, this is music that confronts darkness and insists on the triumph of light.”

André de Ridder appears with generous support from The Diessl Family.

ALSO COMING UP

Bic Runga & the NZSO – conductor David Kay. Wellington (2 Apr)

Resurgence – Conductor James Judd. Hamilton (8 May) Tauranga (9 May)

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