St Paul's at One - Stephen De Pledge 50th Birthday Recital

A frequent recital and concerto soloist, New Zealand pianist Stephen De Pledge will perform excerpts from A New Zealand Partita, where NZ composers wrote works inspired by Bach’s Partita; as well as Chopin’s Ballade no.3 and the ‘Heroic’ Polonaise. De Pledge studied at Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, where he won the Gold Medal. His concerto performances include appearances with New London, BBC Scottish Symphony and New Zealand Symphony Orchestras. His solo performances have taken him to Cologne, Paris and New York, as well as throughout New Zealand and Australia.

On the curator:

One of New Zealand’s leading sopranos, Anna Leese, takes on a curatorial role with this series of afternoon concerts in the glorious surrounds and acoustics of St Paul’s Cathedral. Over five days, the concerts feature some of our most accomplished performers in song, piano, taonga pūoro and strings, as well as a special interactive event for the littlies in our lives.

After studying at University of Otago and winning the 2002 Mobil Song Quest, soprano Anna Leese was furthering her studies in London when she made her debut in 2005 at Royal Opera House Covent Garden (ROH) as Tamiri in Mozart’s Il re pastore. The ROH then invited her to understudy the Musetta in Puccini’s La bohème. She returned to the role, among several others, in her own right in 2008 on the main stage. Regarded as a rising star on the international opera stage, Anna has performed in numerous operatic roles throughout Europe, Canada, China and New Zealand. She has sung with performance greats including Andrea Bocelli, Jose Carreras and Dame Kiri te Kanawa.