Talented harpist in town

Harpist Ingrid Bauer gives a second concert in Wanganui next week and she is an outstanding player, Chamber Music Wanganui president Ingrid Culliford says.

Bauer will be playing at Christ Church at 7.30pm on Wednesday - leap year day. Her first concert in Wanganui was in January last year.

Called An extra concert for an extra day, the Wednesday evening will feature masterworks for the harp from all around the world.

Bauer started learning the harp at the age of 11, studying with the principal harpist at the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. She went on to complete a BMus in Performance Harp at Victoria University and also holds first-class honours from the Australian National University.

She has played in Germany, Australia and New Zealand, winning prizes as a soloist and as a member of chamber music groups. Her work with orchestras includes the Tasmanian, Queensland and New Zealand Symphony orchestras.

Critics have described her performance as "lyrical and elegant, with virtuosity, vitality, and tonal colour".

Her solo CD Dreambird was released last year, and she has also recorded with SHE, a Canberra-based harp septet.

Bauer's concert is Chamber Music Wanganui's first for 2012.

Four others follow, in March, May, June and August. They are from the Puertas Quartet and Leonari Trio, from Jian Liu and from Sergey Malov with Michael Houston.

Tickets available at the door, and the opera house is also selling season subscriptions.