Tahu John Parke Matheson (born 1977) is an Australian classical

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

and

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

. He currently resides in London.

Early life

Tahu John Parke Matheson was born in London. He is a descendant of the

Ngāi Tahu Ngāi Tahu, or Kāi Tahu, is the principal Māori people, Māori (tribe) of the South Island. Its (tribal area) is the largest in New Zealand, and extends from the White Bluffs / Te Parinui o Whiti (southeast of Blenheim, New Zealand, Blenhe ...

tribe of Te Wai Pounamu. While his early years were spent in Germany and New Zealand, he moved to

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, Queensland, Australia in 1989 where he completed five years of secondary school education at

Brisbane State High School Brisbane State High School (BSHS or commonly State High) is a partially selective, co-educational, state secondary school, located in South Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is a member of the Great Public Schools Association of Queensland, ...

Career

Piano

Tahu began his piano studies at the age of five with his father, international conductor John Matheson. He has studied piano with Kalle Randalu in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, and with Oleg Stepanov and Natasha Vlassenko at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, where he completed his Master of Music. In 1995 Tahu won the Queensland Piano Competition and made his professional debut in 1996 with a solo recital at the New Zealand International Festival of the Arts. He performed 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 ...

in 1997 and was invited to record by Kiwi-Pacific Records. Tahu has also performed widely in Australia, both with the Orchestras and solo, and has toured Australia for

Musica Viva Musica Viva, also known as Musica Viva Australia, is a national organisation in Australia dedicated to chamber music. History Music Viva was founded in Sydney in 1945 by Romanian-born Vienna-educated violinist Richard Goldner, who had fled Naz ...

. Tahu was also awarded the Hilda Woolmer Prize for Best Piano Accompaniment and is a recipient of the Brisbane Club award for 2000. Tahu has also toured for Chamber Music New Zealand, and has been broadcast on New Zealand and Australian radio and television. Tahu is a member of Fusion Piano Duo with Lana Higson.

Conducting

Tahu made his conducting debut in

with the Southern Cross Soloists. At the end of 2005 he was invited to London to conduct a new opera "Nelson" for the Trafalgar Bicentenary, featuring Jeffrey Black in the title role. Tahu also conducted The Australian Amadeus Players (Mozart Symphonies 40 & 41) in the opening concert for the 2006 4MBS Festival of Classics. Since 2007, Tahu has been working as a conductor with the

Opera Australia Opera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, New South Wales, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House accompanied by the Opera Australia Orchestra runs for approximately eight months of the year, with t ...

Trivia

*Tahu is known for his height – he is *His first name comes from the Maori tribe

*He is 1/16 Maori *As a teenager he wanted to grow up huge like Arnold Schwarzenegger

References

External links

Tahu's Myspace Site

4MBS Classic FM Musician in Residence
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matheson, Tahu 1977 births Living people Australian male classical pianists Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University alumni 21st-century Australian conductors (music) 21st-century Australian classical pianists People educated at Brisbane State High School 21st-century Australian male musicians