NZTrio celebrates its 20th Anniversary in 2022 with the LEGACY series - an opportunity to look to the past and to the future. 

One of NZTrio’s greatest legacies from its first 20 years is the commissioning of over 75 new works. From “dirty pixels” by Michael Norris in 2003 right through to 2021’s “Ka maranga ngā kapua” by Dame Gillian Karawe Whitehead, Aotearoa’s musical landscape is continually embraced by audiences, promoters and other ensembles both locally and world-wide, guaranteeing the posterity of this taonga. LEGACY heralds three new works fresh off the press from Michael Norris, Tabea Squire and Gao Ping. 

The LEGACY series also spotlights NZTrio’s trademark eclecticism in programming. Teaming up with those new works from Aotearoa are some of the mightiest masterpieces of the trio repertoire (Beethoven “Archduke”, Schubert Eb and Tchaikovsky) plus some cheeky genre-busters (Kapustin, Bolcom and Schuller), and beginning with the discovery of lesser-known works from a familiar name (Schumann) to prime the senses. 

LEGACY 1  

The story begins with the first two of Schumann’s “Six Pieces in Canon” where he pays homage to the lasting resonance of Bach’s prodigious talents in polyphonic writing. Then we look simultaneously to the past and the future, marking NZTrio’s proud legacy of over 75 commissions by performing the latest creation from Michael Norris, who wrote NZTrio’s first ever commission back in 2003. Genre-busting repertoire is highlighted in Kapustin’s trio, a representation of the Soviet jazz scene - spicy and crisp. There’s a moment to catch your breath before the heavyweight champion appears. Beethoven’s Op.97 Bb Major trio is dedicated to his patron and friend Archduke Rudolph of Austria who would surely be delighted to know his name lives on attached to this majestic and profoundly affecting work.

Schumann Sechs Stücke in kanonischer Form, Op. 56 arr. for Piano Trio, I & II Norris New commission Kapustin Trio Op. 86 ---- Beethoven Archduke Trio, Op. 97

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