The New Zealand Herald Premier Series: City Lights

Conductor – Giordano Bellincampi
Violin – Andrew Beer

Wynton Marsalis – Violin Concerto
Bernstein – Symphonic Dances from West Side Story
Gershwin – An American in Paris

To call Wynton Marsalis a legendary trumpeter is merely to scratch the surface of one of the most multifaceted musicians around. His music is a glorious melting pot of jazz, Latin, Bartók, hoedown, Prokofiev, blues… and it’s absolutely thrilling. So, his Violin Concerto needs a soloist with immense musical flexibility (few concertos have a movement called ‘Hootenanny’) as well as high virtuosity, and of course the Auckland Philharmonia’s Andrew Beer is one of those rare musicians.

Bernstein and Gershwin were also both American genre-hopping composers, and their tributes to New York and Paris, respectively, round out an incredibly exciting programme.

Notes Fund – Music for this concert has been supported by Sally Rich.