Stroma is a mixed

chamber ensemble Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

based in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

, New Zealand. It is New Zealand’s largest chamber ensemble, able to draw on over 20 players, many of whom are principal players with the

New Zealand Symphony Orchestra The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Wellington, New Zealand. The national orchestra of New Zealand, the NZSO is an autonomous Crown entity owned by the New Zealand Government, per the New Zealand Symphony ...

(NZSO). It focuses on music written in the last 100 years, and has been active since 2000. It has commissioned and/or premiered over 50 New Zealand works, and has given repeat performances to another 40. Stroma has also collaborated with musicians and artists from other genres, such as jazz musicians (e.g. Jeff Henderson),

taonga pūoro Taonga pūoro are the traditional musical instruments of the Māori people of New Zealand. The instruments previously fulfilled many functions within Māori society including a call to arms, dawning of the new day, communications with the gods ...

players (e.g.

Richard Nunns Richard Anthony Nunns (7 December 1945 – 7 June 2021) was a Māori traditional instrumentalist of Pākehā heritage. He was particularly known for playing taonga pūoro and his collaboration with fellow Māori instrumentalist Hirini Melbourn ...

) and choreographers (e.g. Daniel Belton). Because the members are largely affiliated with the

, usually fewer than 10 concerts a year are given by Stroma. NZSO principals have included Vesa-Matti Leppänen (violin), Bridget Douglas (flute), and Ed Allen (horn).

History

Stroma was established in 2000 by

Hamish McKeich Hamish John McKeich (born 13 May 1967) is a New Zealand bassoon player and conductor. He is principal conductor in residence of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. Early life and education McKeich was born in Christchurch on 13 May 1967, the ...

, Michael Norris, Bridget Douglas and Philip Brownlee, with McKeich as its conductor. Its first concert, ''Wind, Rain & Light'' featured the music of

Toru Takemitsu TORU or Toru may refer to: *TORU, spacecraft system *Tōru (given name), Japanese male given name *Toru, Pakistan, village in Mardan District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan *Tõru Tõru is a village in Saaremaa Parish, Saare County in western Es ...

, James Gardner, Philip Brownlee,

György Ligeti György Sándor Ligeti (; ; 28 May 1923 – 12 June 2006) was a Hungarian-Austrian composer of contemporary classical music. He has been described as "one of the most important avant-garde music, avant-garde composers in the latter half of the ...

Kaija Saariaho Kaija Anneli Saariaho (; ; 14 October 1952 – 2 June 2023) was a Finnish composer based in Paris, France. During the course of her career, Saariaho received commissions from the Lincoln Center for the Kronos Quartet and from IRCAM for the En ...

, Paul Booth, Michael Norris and

Jenny McLeod Jennifer Helen McLeod (12 November 1941 – 28 November 2022) was a New Zealand composer and professor of music at Victoria University of Wellington. She composed several major works for big groups including ''Under the Sun'' for four orchestr ...

. Since then, it has staged over 50 concerts throughout New Zealand, and has appeared at the New Zealand Festival in 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2010, the International Jazz Festival 2003, the Wellington Cathedral Festival 2003, the Christchurch Festival of the Arts 2005 and the Tempo and Body Festivals in 2012. They also toured for

Chamber Music New Zealand Chamber or The Chamber may refer to: Organizations and government *Chamber of commerce, a form of business network *Legislative chamber, a deliberative assembly within a legislature *Debate chamber, a room for people to discuss and debate Arts ...

in 2004, and ''

The New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation in New Zealand, ...

'' music critic William Dart commented that for their eclectic mixing of pieces by composers from New Zealand ( Ross Harris), the United States (

George Crumb George Henry Crumb Jr. (24 October 1929 – 6 February 2022) was an American composer of avant-garde contemporary classical music. Early in his life he rejected the widespread modernist usage of serialism, developing a highly personal musical ...

), and France (

Olivier Messiaen Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithology, ornithologist. One of the major composers of the 20th-century classical music, 20th century, he was also an ou ...

; they played his ''

Quatuor pour la fin du temps ''Quatuor pour la fin du Temps'' (), originally ''Quatuor de la fin du Temps'' ("''Quartet of the End of Time''"), also known by its English title ''Quartet for the End of Time'', is an eight-movement piece of chamber music by the French composer ...

''), they gained "cheers all round". While Stroma's programmes are primarily focused on domestic composers and performers, it has also worked with international musicians (some of whom are New Zealanders) as Roberto Fabbriciani,

Nicholas Isherwood Nicholas Isherwood is a Franco-American bass singer, who specialises in contemporary and baroque music. Notable roles include "Lucifer" in the world premieres of Stockhausen’s '' Montag'', '' Dienstag'', and '' Freitag'' from '' Licht'' at La ...

Madeleine Pierard Madeleine Pierard is a New Zealand lyric soprano opera singer and teacher. She holds the Dame Malvina Major Chair in Opera at the University of Waikato. Early life and education Pierard grew up in Napier. She was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin l ...

(performing '' Pierrot Lunaire'' in 2012), Lars Mlekusch, the Duo Stump-Linshalm, Simon Docking, Adam Page, Richard Haynes, Warren Maxwell and Pedro Carneiro. In 2015, Stroma gave a tribute concert ''Nine Echoes'' to New Zealand composer

Douglas Lilburn Douglas Gordon Lilburn (2 November 19156 June 2001) was a New Zealand composer. Early life Lilburn was born in Whanganui and spent his early years on the family sheep farm in the upper Turakina River valley at Drysdale. He attended Waitaki ...

on his 100th birthday at the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Wellington. In 2016, ten of their players accompanied the opera ''Brass Poppies'', produced by Ross Harris and Vincent O'Sullivan and set in Wellington at a time when soldiers were leaving for

Gallipoli The Gallipoli Peninsula (; ; ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles strait to the east. Gallipoli is the Italian form of the Greek name (), meaning ' ...

. Stroma contributed one piece to the double album set ''Passing By'' of compositions by New Zealand composer

Jack Body John Stanley Body (7 October 1944 – 10 May 2015) was a New Zealand composer, ethnomusicologist, photographer, teacher, and arts producer. As a composer, his work comprised concert music, music theatre, electronic music, music for film and d ...

. The album was released on 30 April 2015, only days before Body's death.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Musical groups established in 2000 Contemporary classical music ensembles Musical groups from Wellington City