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Gareth Farr |
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Gareth Farr is amongst the most versatile and successful composers of contemporary music working in New Zealand today. He is well known to different audiences as a composer, a skilled percussionist, and as a stunning drag artist.
Farr was born in Wellington, New Zealand, and he studied composition, orchestration and electronic music at Auckland University. During this time he was a regular player with the Auckland Philharmonia and the Karlheinz Company. Further study followed at Victoria University of Wellington, where he came to prominence with compositions that often employed or were influenced by the Indonesian gamelan orchestra.
He played frequently as a percussionist with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra before departing New Zealand to study composition with Christopher Rouse at the Eastman School in Rochester, New York, where he graduated Master of Music.
In 1993, at the age of 25, Gareth became Chamber Music New Zealand’s youngest composer-in-residence. Since then, his works have been commissioned and performed by the NZSO, the Auckland Philharmonia, the Wellington Sinfonia, the New Zealand String Quartet, and a variety of other professional musicians in New Zealand and overseas.
From the Depths Sound the Great Sea Gongs, a commission from the NZSO to commemorate the orchestra’s 50th anniversary, was premiered at a Gala Concert in March 1997.
Gareth was commissioned to write a work to celebrate the opening of Te Papa, the museum of New Zealand, and the resulting work, combining symphony orchestra with soprano, tenor and karanga (native New Zealand Maori chant) was hailed as “music with a powerful and moving impact that transcends idiom and individual taste”. A recent highlight was the performance of two of Gareth’s works by the NZSO at the Sydney Olympics; the percussion concerto Hikoi which was composed for and performed by the internationally-renowned Evelyn Glennie, and Wairua, a unique work combining a Maori kapa haka (performing arts) group with the full symphony orchestra. |
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| Recordings |
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MMT2036 Gareth Farr – Warriors from Pluto
By turns dynamic and lyrical, percussive and rhythmic, this CD features five new works for chamber orchestra performed by the NZSO Chamber Orchestra with the STRIKE percussion ensemble.
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MMT2020 Gareth Farr – Chamber Works
A survey of the chamber and instrumental works of Gareth Farr, including Shadow of the Hawk, Kembang Suling, Sepuluh Jari, From Forgotten Forests and Cadenza. |
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MMT2021 Gareth Farr – Orchestral Works
Farr at his colourful best: Waipoua, Le Temps est à la Pluie, Tabuh Pacific, Queen of Demons, and the ever-popular From the Depths Sound the Great Sea Gongs. |
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MMT2019 Gareth Farr – Owhiro
Three sparkling and high-spirited works for string quartet by Gareth Farr, performed by the New Zealand String Quartet. |
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MMT2026 Gareth Farr – Te Papa (CD Single)
Written to celebrate the opening of the Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa combines symphony orchestra, operatic soprano and tenor and Maori karanga. |
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MMT2049 Brass Aotearoa – National Youth Brass Band of New Zealand
The National Youth Brass Band is a group of some of the country’s finest young brass and percussion players. In this recital they play works especially commissioned for their 'ANZAC' Tour to the UK.
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MMT2010 Elusive Dreams
Recorded live at the 1996 International Festival of the Arts, Michael Houston gives a recital of works for solo piano by Psathas, Blake, Young, Lilburn, Body and Farr. |
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MMT2030 STRIKE – New Zealand Percussion Music New Zealand’s most dynamic percussion ensemble presents works by Gareth Farr, Don McGlashan, Ross Harris, and David Downes alongside their live workout, Cube. |
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