This year the Bay of Plenty Music School is in Tauranga from the 15th to the 17th of April.

“This will be the 42nd year for the Bay of Plenty Music School which is run with the assistance of the University of Waikato. It caters for choral, orchestral and band musicians of all levels, providing a unique learning and working opportunity in a relaxed atmosphere under the guidance of experienced conductors and section leaders.”

I am very pleased to be conducting the wind orchestra and working alongside Peter Thomas (symphony and string orchestras) and David Squire (choir).

The Music School has been going since 1966 and is now the largest surviving music school in New Zealand. It moves around towns within the Bay of Plenty region, although this is the second year in a row that it has been held at Tauranga Girls College. This year the repertoires include:

SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Danse Macabre (Saint Saens)
Symphony No.1 (Sibelius)

STRING ORCHESTRA
Waipoua for Clarinet & Strings (Gareth Farr)
Serenade for Strings (Elgar)

WIND ORCHESTRA
Overture in B flat (Caesar Giavannini)
October (Eric Whitacre)

CHOIR
Neckereien (Johannes Brahms)
Turot Eszik A Cigany (Zoltan Kodaly)

Entries are still open and they are looking for more players (especially string players). The entry fee is a wonderfully affordable price for a fantastic weekend of music. So, get enrolled - you have until Friday April 1.

Interested in finding out more about the Bay of Plenty region? Visit the tourism site here, or the Wikipedia site here.