NZSM 4 Chch: Friday at 5 concert

We are dedicating the first of our Friday at 5 concerts to our friends and colleagues devastated by the Christchurch earthquake last month.

They say there is no more than 'six degrees of separation' between people around the world. In New Zealanders it is more like 2 or 3 degrees of separation, and there are very few people here unaffected by the earthquake. At NZSM we wanted to find a way to express support and solidarity for our colleagues in Christchurch and we hope that this concert of music by Cantabrians, for Cantabrians and involving Cantabrians, along with a generous koha from the audience, will go some way towards that.

The one-hour Friday at 5 concerts in the Ilott Theatre are free, but the koha collected on this occasion will be contributed to a fund being managed by Music Education Canterbury, supporting musicians badly affected by the earthquake and its aftermath. The concert will consist entirely of music written by Christchurch composers, both jazz and 'classical'.

NZSM Head of Strings, Martin Riseley (violin), was born and raised in Christchurch and Prof Donald Maurice (viola) has long associations with the city. They will be joined by NZSQ 's Helene Pohl (violin) and Rolf Gjelsten (cello) in a performance of John Ritchie's String Quartet. While he was born in Wellington, John has lived in the Garden City since 1946. We are bringing the venerable composer, who turns 90 this year, up from Christchurch for the occasion and John is looking forward to some respite from aftershocks and chaos.

Also on the programme will be Chris Cree Brown's Inner Bellow for solo clarinet and electronic sounds. The work won the SOUNZ Contemporary Award last year and will be performed by well-known Christchurch clarinetist Gretchen Dunsmore.

There are many close connections between jazz musicians in the Creative Capital and Garden City. NZSM jazz staff including Paul Dyne, Colin Hemmingsen and Nick Tipping will perform jazz works by Christchurch musicians, some of whom we hope to host as guest artists for the concert. Ted Meager (drums) is likely to play although his instrument and even drum sticks are all still locked in the red-stickererd Christchurch Jazz School and several others we have invited are unavailable as they resettle students in other institutions as far away as Melbourne, and cope with the effect on their families of destroyed homes and shattered workplaces.