May 2010 - Violin Concerto No. 1 premiere gets a great response:
“It is a work a work that captures perfectly the essence of our time - it is also a work of extraordinary and haunting beauty” Rod Biss NZ Listener
“The world premiere of Ross Harris’ Violin Concerto No. 1 was a significant event. Commissioned by Christopher Marshall, this one-movement work is in three distinct sections, opening and closing with the violinist in gaunt, solo musing. This is Harris in Bergian mode, highlighted by a dazzling violin role, here played absolutely superbly by eminent English violinst Anthony Marwood.” John Button Dominion Post.
“English violinist Anthony Marwood was electrifying, teasing us with his opening, serpentine solo that fuels the work, fragment by fragment. There is a little post-Mahlerian world in this rich evocative score, while Stravinskian touches occasioned knowing smiles from Marwood” William Dart Auckland Herald
For the full reviews see under Reviews
SOUNZ Contemporary Awards:
Ross Harris has been a finalist in the SOUNZ Contemporary Awards seven times (it has been running for twelve years) and has won the award four times.
2000 To the memory of I.S.Totska (winner)
2003 Chaconne for solo viola (finalist)
2004 At the Edge of Silence (finalist)
2005 Labyrinth for tuba and orchestra (winner)
2006 Symphony II (winner)
2007 The Sleep of Reason (finalist)
2009 Symphony III (winner)
Scilla Askew comments on the 2009 Award: “The SOUNZ Contemporary Award is the most prestigious annual prize for composers offered in New Zealand. The 35 entries this year represented every area of composition: from electroacoustic and multimedia to choral, chamber, orchestral, concerto and solo works.”
Composers' winner beats worthy competition
4:00AM Saturday Sep 19, 2009
By William Dart
The composers who carry off the SOUNZ Contemporary Award, given at the annual APRA Silver Scroll Awards, will never attain the populist profile of the songwriters who take the Silver Scroll Award home with them.
Nevertheless, over 12 years, Gillian Whitehead, Eve de Castro-Robinson, Ross Harris and John Psathas have all been acknowledged with more than one trophy, while last year's ceremony gave the nod to the young, and comparatively unknown, Chris Gendall.
On Thursday night, in Christchurch, a 2009 winner was chosen from three finalists.
Jack Body's My Name is Mok Bhon is a piece that reminds us visually (with video footage) and musically (the NZSO weaving elegant oriental-tinged strands) of the dark days of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge.
Michael Norris's Volti is a frisky scherzo for piano and orchestra, the sheer ebullience of which makes you long to see the pianist in the act of coping with its very theatrical solo part.
Ross Harris' Symphony III is comparatively traditional; a 40-minute orchestral canvas that almost bewilders with its richness. This is a work fuelled by the images of Chagall and the sounds of klezmer, coalesced into a remarkable symphonic whole.
Perhaps it was predictable that Harris would carry off the prize this year, his fourth since it was inaugurated in 1998 but, despite very worthy competition, it was more than deserved.
And, although Wellington has been quick to bask in the latest glories of one of its distinguished sons, Aucklanders, too, have reason for pride. If Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, an organisation which has always shown unswerving devotion for the music of our composers, had not commissioned the Symphony and premiered it last year, this score might not have been written.
In 1985 Ross was awarded a QSM for his work with Witi Ihimaera on the opera Waituhi.
In 1990 he was awarded the CANZ Citation for services to New Zealand Music.
New Commissions:
The recently completed Violin Concerto No 1, commissioned by Christopher Marshal, is scheduled for performance at the 20l0 NZSO Made in New Zealand Concert. The soloist will be Anthony Marwood.
Also recently completed is The Abiding Tides (poems by Vincent O’Sullivan) for string quartet and soprano (commissioned by Jack Richards). This work is scheduled for performance in Wellington in March 2010.
Also recently completed is Enteng (light) written for Jack Body as part of a gamelan festival later in September 2009.
Ross has also recently written 23 short pieces for the klezmer group Kugeltof. Ross plays accordion in the band.
Ross is currently working on a chamber opera Brass Poppies with libretto by Vincent O'Sullivan. The composition of this work is funded by Creative New Zealand.