Is this another example of New Zealand’s two degrees of separation?
The day before we speak, cellist Callum Hall played Beethoven with the Auckland Philharmonia. Hall’s section leader for that concert was Ashley Brown. The last time Brown featured in the Listener was to mark his departure from NZTrio. This interview with Hall is about his forthcoming tour with NZTrio. It’s like musical chairs, except that when the playing stops every seat is filled by a cellist.
Hall remains a regular with Auckland Phil, but NZTrio’s nationwide Fantastique tour, which begins in Motueka on Saturday, July 26 and includes a Beethoven Triple Concerto with Manukau Symphony on Sunday, August 24, was just too good to pass up. After all, he’ll be sharing a stage with his younger sister, Amalia, the group’s violinist. Is that nice or odd?
“It’s great,” Hall says. “It’s easy for us to get in sync and get the flow of the music working. We’ve played a lot together ever since we were young.”
As kids, the pair were members of the Hall Family Quartet, completed by elder siblings Lara (violin) and violist Elroy. All four became professional musicians. Elroy has lately headed in another direction, but Lara performs regularly, and teaches violin at the University of Waikato, having completed a doctorate in Michigan.
Callum did his master’s at Waikato. He has a doctorate, too, also earnt in Michigan, though from a different university. “I wanted to do something I could really get stuck into,” he says of his music studies. “I wasn’t sure what I was going to do in my career and I thought a doctorate would provide a lot of experiences and open up possibilities.”
Hall played plenty of chamber music in that time, which will come in handy on the NZTrio tour. Or will it? He’s never performed any of the works in the programme. Even by NZTrio standards, it’s a diverse selection of music from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.
“I like playing a bit of everything,” Hall says. “[The programme] has music people may be familiar with” – Shostakovich and Franck – “but they may also have their listening space extended with music they’re not used to or knowledgeable about” – Chinese-American composer Chen Yi’s fabulous Tibetan Tunes, and Angelus, a new commission from John Psathas, who will be present at one or two rehearsals.
“We haven’t heard [the Psathas] yet. It’s a big step to make a new work come together, but it’s always good to get feedback from a composer and find some subtleties that may not be obvious on the page. When we get together, things will change, for sure.”
NZTrio Fantastique tour, July 26-August 30, see nztrio.com for details. Manukau Symphony Orchestra, Pastorale, including Beethoven’s Triple Concerto. Due Drop Events Centre, August 24.
