To commemorate the 70th birthday this year of Christchurch composer John Ritchie, currently in production is a programme of his delightfully attractive works for string orchestra and full orchestra. Ritchie, who was for many years Professor of Music at the University of Canterbury, founded the John Ritchie String Orchestra, and it was for this group and for the Alex Lindsay String Orchestra that he wrote much of his music in the 1950s and 60s. Artists on the new disc are the NZSO Chamber Orchestra under director Donald Armstrong, with Marina Sturm as the clarinet soloist in the Concertino for Clarinet and Strings, and the NZSO conducted by Marc Taddei.

Scheduled for release in September 2002.