Concertina!

Bay of Plenty Symphonia’s first concert programme of 2023 is something very different – an orchestral concert with a world-acclaimed accordion soloist. The mood is light and festive with lots of variety, including the world première of a specially commissioned work. The concert will be performed twice, in Tauranga and Rotorua.
Rossini’s sparkling overture The Italian Girl in Algiers opens the programme with a flourish, followed by the tranquillity of Honneger’s Summer Pastorale.
Our accordion soloist is central to the programme. Aucklander Grayson Masefield is a triple world champion who regularly tours internationally. He will perform three pieces with the orchestra – two in the exhilarating nuevo tango style, and a new work by leading Kiwi composer Ross Harris. Ross himself is an accordionist so expect something exciting for this instrument! Thanks to a generous bequest, BOP Symphonia has been able to specially commission his Introduction and Allegro, for Grayson to perform at this concert. Tauranga and Rotorua audiences will be the first in the world to hear it!
Contrasting works to be played by the orchestra include Fauré’s famous Pavane, and Kurt Weill’s Little Threepenny Music, which tells the story of Mack the Knife from his Threepenny Opera. Our conductor, Justus Rozemond, has specially arranged Weill’s music for orchestra.