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Egyptian Piano – Keys to the Future
Presented by: Bay of Plenty Symphonia
Be enchanted by an afternoon of wondrous music and a young virtuosic pianist when Bay of Plenty Symphonia, under the baton of its brand-new Music Director Michael Joel, perform with soloist Shan Liu.
Fresh from winning the 2025 National Concerto Competition at only 14 years of age, Shan Liu, who performed with Michael and Bay of Plenty Symphonia in Chopin’s Concerto No.2 when he was only 12 in April 2022, returns to play the enchanting Piano Concerto No.5, ‘The Egyptian’ by Camille Saint-Saëns. This is an amazing opportunity to hear this exceptionally talented young musician locally before he spreads his wings on the international stage.
Saint-Saëns wrote this concerto while visiting Luxor in Egypt, and indeed, the central movement brings in Spanish, African and other exotic elements. The work is infused with French romance, elegance and spirit and Shan is sure to make the very virtuosic piano writing sound effortless.
In his first concert as Music Director for Bay of Plenty Symphonia, Michael Joel will lead the orchestra through Sibelius’ magnificent Symphony No.1, with its beautiful string and woodwind solos and large brass section which adds intensity to the profound symphonic moments. You can expect lots of beautiful melodies as well as drama and excitement.
The concert begins with New Zealand composer Douglas Lilburn’s Aotearoa Overture, which he wrote while he was still a student at London’s Royal College of Music. It was premiered at a concert held to commemorate the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi at His Majesty’s Theatre in London, and was not performed in New Zealand until 1959, but it has since entered the country’s standard orchestral repertory and is the most frequently performed orchestral work by a New Zealand composer. Typical of Lilburn’s early work, the overture features idiomatic writing for winds, especially flutes, and vigorous dynamic contrasts.
