Reflections & Connections

IN CONCERT: Regarded as one of New Zealand's most exciting emerging professional pianists, Liam Wooding performs in Gisborne this week. Picture supplied

Phrygian Gates, the intriguing title of a work by John Adams, is part of the Reflections & Connections concert programme pianist Liam Wooding will perform at Tiromoana on Sunday.

Presented by Musica Viva Gisborne, the programme features pieces on the themes of reflection (reflecting light, reflective contemplation) and connection (across time, across space, through barriers).

Wooding is regarded as one of New Zealand's most exciting emerging professional pianists. His programme also features Remote Connection, a new work by Australian Stuart Greenbaum inspired by the experience of isolation during the Covid-19 alert response.

The concert will also be a rare chance to hear Douglas Lilburn's often-overlooked Sonata in F sharp minor, and in the hands of a committed advocate of New Zealand music.

Works by Beethoven, Debussy and Duke Ellington make up the rest of the eclectic programme.

As a chamber musician, Wooding has participated in courses and residencies at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity (Canada), Skidmore College (USA), and Four Winds (Australia).

In 2018 he was the recipient of the Pettman/ROSL Chamber Music Scholarship which enables him to study and perform in the UK for one month with The Morton Trio.

Wooding was a prize winner in the National Concerto Competition where he performed with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, and he has featured as a soloist with the Auckland Chamber Orchestra and the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra.

A graduate of the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM), he is a doctoral candidate at the University of Waikato where he researches New Zealand piano music.

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