It might not be until the first weekend in May, but organisers are pushing early bird registrations for this year’s Bay of Plenty Music School which close off at the end of March.
Thereafter registrations cost 10 per cent more.
The school should more accurately be considered a music camp, says organising committee member and Taupō flute tutor Carrie Vander Zwaag.
“It’s really a weekend of workshops, combined rehearsals and a final performance at the end on Sunday afternoon at the Great Lake Centre,” she says.
The string orchestra, full orchestra, concert band and choir will be under the guidance of visiting outstanding nationally renowned conductors, says Vander Zwaag.
During the event from May 2 to 4 local instrumentalists get the chance to play alongside others from the Bay of Plenty and further afield and this year’s staging of the school here, its second in Taupō in a row, will not occur for another decade as it moves on its regular cycle around other regional centres.
More than 100 musicians took part last year in the school which as a non-profit organisation was started in 1966 in Whakatane and has evolved to be the longest surviving such music school in New Zealand, says Vander Zwaag.
It relies on sponsorship and grant funding to subsidise the entry fee, and to keep participation affordable while also offering scholarships to students under 25 years in full-time study.
Orchestral pieces for the koha entry concert at the Great Lake Centre on Sunday, May 4 will be chosen from ‘Finlandia’ by Sibelius, ‘Scheherazade’ by Rimsky-Korsakov or ‘Pines of the Appian Way’ by Respighi and a feature is always the combined piece featuring all of the participants in attendance – full orchestra, band members and choir.
This year’s combined piece is the popular ‘Do you hear the people sing?’ from Les Miserables.
Those wanting to take part in this year’s school can register through the school’s website: Welcome to the Bay of Plenty Music School.
The 2025 school is supported by New Zealand Community Trust and Creative Communities New Zealand.
