Auckland Town Hall: Who doesn't want to transport themselves to another world from time to time? Opportunities abound this month thanks to Elemental Festival – Auckland's brand new winter event under way across the city right now – which aims to be a veritable banquet for the senses.
Think winter feasts, light shows, theatre and, of course, festivities to mark Matariki. This Saturday, event producers extraordinaire Inside Out Productions join forces with orators Rewi Spraggon (Te Kawerau a Maki), Taiaha Hawke (Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei), and Pita Turei (Ngāti Paoa) for Te Hono, contemporary storytelling complete with state-of-the-art mapping on to the ceiling of the Town Hall's historic Concert Chamber. It's a free event but pre-booking is advised.
Te Hono, Concert Chamber, Auckland Town Hall, Saturday & Sunday, every two hours from midday-6pm.
During the past 60 years, thousands of our finest orchestral players, soloists, chamber musicians and music teachers have started their careers with the National Youth Orchestra and a fair percentage have gone on to join the NZ Symphony Orchestra. This year, the NYO is joining forces with the New Zealand Youth Choir, which turns 40, for a grand celebration and concert. They'll premiere a work by 2019 NZSO National Youth Orchestra Composer-in-Residence as well as perform Elgar's The Music Makers because they are the music makers now and tomorrow.
NYO Celebrates, Great Hall, Auckland Town Hall, Saturday.
The Powerstation: Good things take time – so it is with Jan Hellriegel's fourth studio album, Sportsman of the Year – A Suburban Philosophy which has been seven years in the making. Hellriegel, one of the biggest names of the '90s, says it's about finally arriving at a place where she looks back at failures, disappointments and rejections with a sense of accomplishment and pride, knowing that without them she wouldn't be doing what she is today. Now she performs her stunning new songs at a new venue, CompactStation, within the Powerstation. It promises to be an uplifting evening of songs, stories and suburban philosophy.
Jan Hellriegel, CompactStation at the Powerstation, Friday (R18), doors open 8pm.
