Concert Rounds
Preliminary Rounds
The preliminary rounds of the Dunedin Concerto Competition 2027 will take place at the Marama Hall on the University of Otago campus, courtesy of the School of Performing Arts, from Friday, 5 to Sunday, March 7, 2027.
Finalists' Concert
The Dunedin Concerto Competition, in partnership with the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra (DSO) and the Dunedin Youth Orchestra (DYO), presents the Finalists' Concert of the 2027 Competition.
The Finalists' Concert takes place on Saturday, 1 May 2027, 7.30 pm at the Dunedin Town Hall. The three finalists perform their chosen works accompanied by the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra (DSO) and selected members of the Dunedin Youth Orchestra (DYO). At the conclusion of the performances, the adjudicators will give their comments and the prize-winners will be announced.
Adjudicators 2027
GILLIAN ANSELL
Viola
Born in Auckland, Gillian Ansell made her concerto debut as a violinist with the Auckland Philharmonia at the age of 16. At 19, an Associated Board Scholarship took her to the Royal College of Music in London for three years to study violin, viola and piano. She then won a German Academic Exchange (DAAD) scholarship for further study in Germany at the Musikhochschule Cologne with Igor Ozim and the Amadeus Quartet.
After working professionally in London she returned to New Zealand to become a founding member of the New Zealand String Quartet in 1987. She was second violinist for two years before taking up the position of violist of the group.
In 1992, Gillian founded the Adam Chamber Music Festival with a group of friends, performing five concerts in five days. Gillian has been the Artistic Director of the Festival since 2001.
In 2008 she was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) for her outstanding services to music in New Zealand.
She served on the jury of the Banff International String Quartet Competition in 2019.
In any free time, Gillian‘s favourite activities include dinner parties, tramping, movies, gardening and immersing herself in a great book.
Gillian plays on a 1619 Nicolò Amati viola, generously loaned by the Adam Foundation.
BRIDGET DOUGLAS
Flute
Bridget is Section Principal Flute of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra - Te Tira Pūoro O Aotearoa and an Artist Teacher in Flute at the New Zealand School of Music - Te Kōkī. Born and bred in Dunedin, she studied at Otago and Victoria Universities before travelling to the USA for postgraduate study under flautist Samuel Baron with the assistance of a Fulbright Graduate Award.
While in New York, Bridget won the New York Flute Club and Artists International Competitions resulting in debut recitals at Carnegie and CAMI Halls. She was a prize winner in the Tilden Prize (New York) and The International Flute Competition in Markneukirchen (Germany). Bridget was a member of the Chicago Civic Orchestra for a season before taking up her position with the NZSO. She also played with the Hannover Staatsoper Orchester in Germany for a year on an orchestral exchange.
Bridget mentors young musicians throughout Aotearoa in schools, universities and public workshops. She collaborates on a diverse range of solo and chamber music performances with a variety of local and international musicians throughout Australasia. She is actively involved in performing and commissioning New Zealand composers to create music that is unique to Aotearoa.
Bridget is a founding member of contemporary ensemble Stroma and performs regularly with taonga pūoro player, Alistair Fraser. For many years she performed with Carolyn Mills in the harp/flute duo Flight, and with her NZSO wind colleagues in the wind quintet Zephyr. Bridget has released five albums on Trust Records, Atoll and Rattle labels, four which have been finalists for Best Classical Album at the Aotearoa Music Awards. Bridget is regularly featured on RNZ Concert.
In 2020 she was awarded the CANZ (Composers Association of NZ) KBB Citation for Services to New Zealand Music.
Stephen De Pledge
Piano
New Zealand pianist Stephen De Pledge has performed extensively as a soloist and chamber musician since winning the Guildhall School of Music and Drama’s Gold Medal in his final year of study in London. Concerto performances include the BBC Scottish Symphony, Bournemouth Symphony, Philharmonia (London) and all of the major orchestras in New Zealand.
He has broadcast for BBC radio and television, and made more than 20 commercial recordings, including premiere recordings for Arvo Pärt, Henryk Gorecki and Ned Rorem. He has collaborated with many musicians, including the Berlin Philharmonic’s Wind Quintet, the Scottish Ensemble and Chamber Domaine.
Stephen has performed at many international festivals, including Bargemusic (New York), Edinburgh International Festival and City of London Festival, often giving the world premiere of new works. He has commissioned many composers in New Zealand and abroad and has amassed a large body of new work for piano solo and ensembles.
In addition to his performing career Stephen is Head of Piano at the University of Auckland.
The Orchestras
The Dunedin Youth Orchestra (DYO) is Dunedin’s premier training orchestra and was formed in 1972. Its core function is to provide local young orchestral musicians (aged 13 to 25 years) with a high quality musical outlet and opportunities for their further development.
It is an audition only orchestra and selected applicants work towards formal concert presentations over two semesters. Local and guest professional conductors are engaged for each concert and they choose a programme from standard orchestral repertoire, New Zealand works and new music by local composers. Awards are presented each year to those most promising performers and composers.
The standard of musicianship achieved within the Youth Orchestra is such that many members are selected to join the National Youth Orchestra, the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra and other NZ or overseas professional orchestras.
Orchestra members gain from specialised tutoring, exposure to a wide range of repertoire and conducting styles, and they benefit from the musical camaraderie, gathering each Friday evening with other like-minded young musicians. Players also contribute to music education in the city, mainly as tutors for younger players particularly through the Saturday Morning Music Classes, but also taking their skills back to their school or local orchestras and bands. Many collaborative projects arise from this meeting of young skilled musical minds.
The Dunedin Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is Dunedin’s only professional orchestra and is funded by Creative New Zealand. We have established a reputation for the high calibre of our performances. Since 1966, the orchestra has been presenting its audiences with performances of a wide range of orchestral masterpieces featuring international and New Zealand conductors and soloists.
Dunedin is very much the home base of the orchestra and its players, and most of our performances take place in the city. As one of only four New Zealand City Orchestras, the orchestra is a key contributor to the city’s cultural vibrancy. The orchestra’s flagship is its annual five-concert series which encompasses music from the Baroque through to commissioned works. The orchestra’s versatility allows it to present various other artists, such as Te Vaka, singers from the Dunedin Sound genre, and more. In addition, the orchestra accompanies City Choir Dunedin, Opera Otago and the Royal NZ Ballet, ensuring audiences can enjoy choral, operatic and ballet masterpieces too. We have also worked with Natural History New Zealand (NHNZ) on several innovative multi-artform projects.
We have a proud tradition of providing orchestral players in the community with a comprehensive range of educational projects to nurture future players, from the DSO Academy for younger, developing players, through to its University Scholarship for potential DSO players, and masterclasses and workshops for advanced players. The orchestra also presents chamber concerts at schools around Otago which enables access for those centred far from Dunedin. A very high proportion of the DSO players form the backbone of the city’s music teaching infrastructure, demonstrating how integral the orchestra is to the city and the University of Otago.
Conductor/s - to be announced later
.
Sign Up for our Newsletter below!
.png)