Classical royalty coming to town

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

The gem in Aotearoa’s classical music crown is coming to Gisborne along with a throng of special guests.

The New Zealand String Quartet is on a nationwide tour with Four Suits and a Soprano.

From Prince to Puccini, the show blends their classical talents with musical theatre and pop, touching on the best of all worlds.

Normally a purely classical affair, the combination of voice with strings has been a delightful change for the quartet.

“We are forever trying to sing on our instruments and to imitate the human voice, so being surrounded by voices in the show — especially five different ones — is fascinating,” said founding member and violist Gillian Ansell.

Accompanying the quartet is a backing band with keyboards, bass and drums for lift, soprano Sophie Morris for life, and four suited and booted male vocalists for body.

The show will host a night of pop through to operatic masterworks, treating attendees to the emotion of classics plus the rhythm of pop.

“We like to give our all on stage no matter what repertoire we are doing or how many other people are involved,” said Ms Ansell.

“But it has to be said that the limelight is far more on the singers than us for quite a lot of the show.”

Since 1987, the New Zealand String Quartet has graced the New Zealand stage and toured the world, typically performing over eighty concerts each year, from London at the Wigmore Hall to Washington’s Library of Congress.

The ensemble has been quartet-in-residence at the New Zealand School of Music at Victoria University since 1991, where the members hold associate professor and lecturer positions.

Four Suits and a Soprano are some of New Zealand’s most accomplished performers — having worked with Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, sung in sports stadiums and performed around the country’s theatres.

Although different from the usual, Ms Ansell said audiences have been loving the show.

“We have had lots of enthusiastic responses around the country. People are enjoying such different styles of repertoire — opera, pop, disco, classical, musical theatre — there is something for everyone.”