Sway NZTrio

• Kenji Bunch (b. 1973): Swing Shift:
• 1 Swing Shift: II. Night Flight 04:52
• Claire Cowan (b. 1983): Subtle Dances:
• 2 Subtle Dances: I. Subtle Dances 04:55
• 3 Subtle Dances: II. Be Slow and Lie Low 02:31
• 4 Subtle Dances: III. Nerve Lines 03:26
• Raimundo Penaforte (b. 1961): An Eroica Trio:
• 5 An Eroica Trio: I. Astor 08:10
• 6 An Eroica Trio: II. Maurice 08:30
• 7 An Eroica Trio: III. Capiba 05:03
• Judy Bailey (b. 1968): So Many Rivers:
• 8 So Many Rivers 10:00
• Paul Schoenfield (b. 1947): Café Music:
• 9 Café Music: I. Allegro 06:22
• 10 Café Music: II. Andante moderato 05:34
• 11 Café Music: III. Presto 04:51
• Total Runtime 01:04:14

Info for Sway

NZTrio’s Sway perfectly encapsulates their shared ambition to bring joyful, vibrant, life-affirming music to audiences in all corners of the world. The album comprises a rich and rewarding programme of beautifully performed and recorded music by five exceptional contemporary composers.

Three born and bred kiwis, three Doctorates of Music, fourteen years as a committed ensemble, and one shared vision: to champion New Zealand music within a vast and vibrant repertoire, uniting sound and soul for people around the globe. Sway comprises a rich and rewarding programme of beautifully performed music by five exceptional contemporary composers – Kenji Bunch, Claire Cowan, Raimundo Penaforte, Judy Bailey, and Paul Schoenfield.

NZTrio:
Ashley Brown, cello
Amalia Hall, violin
omi Kim, piano

NZTrio
Described as a “national treasure” and “New Zealand’s most indispensable ensemble” (William Dart, NZ Herald), NZTrio is renowned for its eclectic repertoire, outstanding talent and warm kiwi stage presence. The trio smashes outmoded preconceptions of classical music being stuffy or intimidating by presenting a fresh and approachable style that appeals to listeners from all walks of life. Every NZTrio performance reaffirms the importance of a live musical experience in today’s digital world. The group curates a powerful audience experience by pairing intimate, acoustically dynamic venues with unique and engaging musical programmes that challenge, move and inspire.

After a two year period of transition, with founding cellist Ashley Brown inviting an amazing array of talented guest musicians to join him on stage, NZTrio is thrilled to begin a new era in 2020 with the appointment of two new permanent members Amalia Hall (violin) and Somi Kim (piano). For more information on individual musicians please visit their individual bios page here.

NZTrio is a respected ambassador of contemporary New Zealand music and holds a remarkable track record of over 50 new commissions to date (more than 2/3 from NZ composers). They showcase those commissions in concerts around the country and overseas, and across all of their recordings, matching them with other fascinating contemporary works and the old familiar masterpieces. The trio has proudly featured at least one New Zealand composition in every concert throughout its 17 year history.

NZTrio has established two educational programmes that reach out to young musicians and composers: NZTrioLive! a high schools programme that gives young people a behind-the-scenes practical introduction on how to turn their passions into a profession, and the biennial NZTrio Composing Competition for tertiary composition students in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin.

Critical acclaim for the group extends to a Tui for Best Classical Artist at the 2017 Vodafone NZ Music Awards, two citation awards: the KBB Music/CANZ citation (2012) and the Lilburn Trust Citation (2017) – both for outstanding services to New Zealand Music, as well as an ever-expanding catalogue of recorded work. Recent CD releases under the Rattle label include Lightbox (2015), Sway(2016), and Vicissitudes(2016) – a jazz-meets-classical collaboration with the Mike Nock Trio, and a finalist for Best Jazz Album in the 2017 New Zealand Jazz Awards.

The trio enthusiastically welcomes collaborative opportunities from across the arts spectrum such as animated film (David Downes, 2009), contemporary dance (New Zealand Dance Co., 2012/2013), theatre (Massive Co., 2013), voice (tenor Simon O’Neill, 2016) as well as cross-cultural musical works with masters of Maori taonga puoro, Chinese guzheng, and Cambodian traditional instruments. They have captivated music-lovers throughout New Zealand, Australia, Asia, South America, the USA, Europe and Scandinavia – the most recent highlights being a poignant tour of Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time with UK clarinettist Julian Bliss (2016 & 2018), and building on multiple return visits to China – a significant cross-cultural project to record and extensively tour 9 new piano trios by Chinese composers (2017 & 2018).

This album contains no booklet.