A Magical Musical Mystery: In Concert With CSO

Let me introduce myself, I am a New Zealand soprano, composer, lyricist and arranger. I started my Doctor of Musical Arts in October 2023, studying Composition, having completed my Master of Arts (180 points) in Music with Distinction in June 2023. I am delighted to be working in collaboration with Christchurch Symphony Orchestra later this month for the world premiere of my second musical A Magical Musical Mystery. The musical is based on the nonsense verse of Lewis Carroll and follows a consciousness as it wanders through its own dream landscape, which manifests as a young girl. As a child I fell in love with Alice in Wonderland, arguably Lewis Carroll's most famous work, I was also introduced to Jabberwocky, one of the most well-known poems from the Nonsense Verse collection. From here I explored the different poems and the variety of characters and animals that Lewis Carroll created. The different characters throughout Nonsense Verse spark the imagination with their quirks and unique personalities. When I revisited this collection of poems as I matured, I could hear the different characters come to life through my music. Setting the poetry to the music brings the dream landscape to life in a unique way. It draws you into the words and inspires the tone and variety of sounds and reflects the different characters throughout. I created the musical A Magical Musical Mystery to celebrate the Nonsense Verse of Lewis Carroll and I invite you all to join me at The Piano on Saturday 28 September 2024. I have thoroughly enjoyed orchestrating for a 32-piece orchestra and was delighted that Christchurch Symphony Orchestra agreed to premiere this musical In Concert at The Piano. There will be 2 concerts one at 3pm and one at 7pm. I am also very pleased to welcome Naomi Hnat on her return to Christchurch as conductor together with Naomi Ferguson (soloist), John Bayne (soloist) and Helen Grout (solo saxophonist).I was very pleased and proud to receive the support of Creative New Zealand, as a recipient of their Early Career Fund in The Arts and I also thank my sponsors Archibalds Christchurch, Pump & Valve, and Madisons for their contribution to this project. I look forward to seeing you embrace the magic and let your imagination run wild!