John Psathas (b.1966) is one of New Zealand’s most frequently performed composers. With works in the repertoire of such high profile musicians as Evelyn Glennie, Michael Brecker, Pedro Carneiro, the Halle Orchestra and others, he has achieved what was until recently held to be a near impossibility for a composer of contemporary New Zealand music – he is establishing a solid international profile, and receiving regular commission offers from outside New Zealand.

Early success came with Matre’s Dance in 1991, a maximum-energy duet for percussion and piano that has since made Psathas’ name internationally through having been taken up and championed by percussionist Evelyn Glennie. This work and Drum Dances are fast becoming standard repertoire for percussionists throughout the world.

A growing number of major works are being heard overseas. 2000 saw the premiere of the Saxophone Concerto at an outdoor concert (before an audience of 8000 people) at the 2 Agosto Festival in Bologna, Italy. This work was tailored to the particular improvising talents of tenor saxophonist Michael Brecker. In 2001, the Concerto No.1 for four percussionists and orchestra was performed at the Klangspuren Contemporary Music Festival in Schwaz, Austria. Later this year, Evelyn Glennie will give the premiere of the Double Concerto for percussion, piano and orchestra at a Royal Gala concert as part of the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester.

John is currently working on a large-scale work for the Orpheus Choir of Wellington (with poet Robert Sullivan), to be performed later in 2002, a concerto for the Italian saxophonist Federico Mondelci, to be premiered in Milan in early 2003, and a Piano Concerto for Michael Houstoun and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.