 | -
take away these guys and all you have is dots and lines |
++++++ |  | these
guys love new-music! - 175 East's instrumentation ensures that a high proportion
of pieces in each concert series are specially written commissions; 175 East and
its director Jim Gardner have been bringing "weapons-grade" new music
to NZ audiences for eight years (Chris created and maintains this site) |
++++++ |  | brimming
with talent from the NZSO, Stroma is the brainchild of Michael Norris, Bridget
Douglas, Hamish McKeich and Philip Brownlee, now in its fifth year and establishing
a real name for itself; brave, intelligent programming and an excellent history
of commissioning |
| ++++++ | Auckland
Philharmonia
- | an excellent orchestra with
strong ties to NZ music by way of a composer residency programme and annual composer
workshops |
| ++++++ | Okta
|
- Waikato University-based ensemble presenting very interesting programmes of
new music with heavy NZ content |
| ++++++ | Hamish
McKeich - | conductor
of both 175 East and Stroma, as well as Associate Conductor of the NZSO and its
Principal Contrabassoonist |
| ++++++ | Andrew
Uren - | New
Zealand's premiere exponent of the bass clarinet, friend to New Zealand composers
and all-round nice guy! |
| ++++++ | Arnold
Marinissen - | Dutch percussionist-extraordinaire
with side-interests in the musical saw and Dadaist Kurt Schwitters; lucky for
us he now spends a good deal of his time in NZ |
| ++++++ | Lars
Mlekusch |
- Virtuoso Swiss saxophonist who came to NZ to play with Stroma in 2005 |
 |  | -
see the SOUNZ website for extensive pages
about New Zealand composers |
| ++++++ |  | Ross
Harris - Chris's mentor from honours to the present; a master of any
of the wide-ranging styles he cares to adopt and a crafty opponent on the tennis
court
Michael
Norris - prize-winning NZ composer now lecturing at Victoria
David
Downes - composer and animator - brilliant, original stuff
Jack
Body - a composer whose music is often informed by the strong ties he has
to Asia and beyond |
 |  | -
some influential note-smiths |
| ++++++ |  | Elliott
Carter - string quartets must be regarded alongside those of Bartok
and Beethoven; the documentary A Labyrinth of Time
is an excellent introduction to the composer's life and work
Toru
Takemitsu - the East meets Impressionism - the modern master of colour
Alban
Berg - delicious use of line, sneaky programmes hidden within
Miles
Davis - it's the way he continually re-invented his language that amazes
me
Pierre
Boulez and Karlheinz
Stockhausen - the unwavering, uncompromising faces of post-war art
music - impossible to ignore
Dmitri
Shostakovich - a life every bit as interesting as his music. Read Solomon
Volkov's Testimony with a grain of salt (it may be a fraud, but there are some
great stories within) then Elizabeth Wilson's A Life Remembered for balance. DDS's
story made me interested in Stalinist Russia, a fascinating and frightening period
of history
Gustav
Mahler - harmony! |
 |  | -
the forces behind the music |
| ++++++ | Composers'
Association of New Zealand - |
lobbying for a better deal for NZ composers, bringing you those CANZonettas and
CANZonas, the Nelson Composers' Workshop and those important ties with the Asian
Composers' League |
| ++++++ | Concert
FM | - still the
only place you'll hear new art music on the wireless in NZ |
| ++++++ | New
Zealand Labour Party | -
there has never been a better time to live and work as an artist in New Zealand
- thanks, Helen |
 |  |
- beautiful websites to drool over |
| ++++++ | Styleboost
| - a frequently updated listing
of the world's best looking websites
|
| ++++++ | Dynamic
Drive | - a treasure-trove
of free goodies with which to tart-up one's website |
| ++++++ | Dunun
| - award-winning Flash-based
website; very fun |
 |  |
- no prizes for guessing the composer's leanings...
|
| ++++++ | Noam
Chomsky |
- linguist, activist, and political
dissident; a rationalist, anti-authoritarian leftist; a libertarian
socialist |
| ++++++ | Michael
Moore |
- popularising humanist activism, largely through documentary making |
| ++++++ | The
Cost of the War in Iraq - |
the monetary means exist to
solve many of the world's most pressing problems; visit this site
to see what immense good could have been done with the money Bush
and Blair/Brown are spending on their illegal war in Iraq |
Cost of
the War in Iraq (JavaScript
Error)
| ++++++ | Mark
Fiore | - cutting
animated political cartoons |
|  | - some favourites |
| ++++++ | |
I've seen it a dozen times and am still mulling it over. Mr Eddy: "This is
where mechanical excellence and one-thousand four-hundred horsepower pays off".
|
| ++++++ | The
Good, the Bad and the Ugly -
| do Westerns come any better?
- could Clint Eastwood be any cooler? Tuco: "When you have to shoot, shoot
- don't talk!" |
| ++++++ | The
Sopranos - |  masterpiece
TV, sadly missed...
Tony: "Listen to me, this guy was a Russian green
beret. He was in the Ministry of the Interior or something. He single handedly
killed 16 Chechen rebels. Be careful."
Paulie: "OK" *hangs
up*
Christopher: "What he say?"
Paulie: "He said
the guy killed 16 Czechoslovakians and was an interior decorator"
Christopher:
"Interior decorator? His apartment looked like shit"
| 
NB: Agent Dwight Harris is not related to New Zealand composer, Ross Harris.  |
|
Lost
Highway
