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The worlds of jazz, dance, pop, roots, folk and classical music intersect on 3 May, when four icons of Kiwi music join forces for a concert at Auckland Town Hall.

The worlds of jazz, dance, pop, roots, folk and classical music intersect on 3 May, when four icons of Kiwi music join forces for a concert at Auckland Town Hall.

The event, which is titled APO Amped and takes place for NZ Music Month, brings the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra together with saxophonist/flautist Nathan Haines, roots musician Warren Maxwell (Little Bushman/Trinity Roots/Fat Freddys Drop) and composer John Psathas.

Haines plays Omnifenix, John Psathas’s concerto for tenor saxophone, drum kit and orchestra. He is joined by Australian drum virtuoso David Jones.

Written for the late sax legend Michael Brecker, Omnifenix is unusual for a modern concerto in that it leaves considerable room for improvisation.

“It’s a wild and challenging piece,” admits Psathas, who is the APO’s Composer-In-Residence. “It requires real technique and musicality, but music fans will know that Nathan has plenty of both.”

The second half of the evening is dedicated to the world premiere of Pounamu, a collaboration between John Psathas and Warren Maxwell.

A folk-roots concerto for acoustic and bass guitars, voice and orchestra, it takes as its subject ‘invisible people’: the homeless, the elderly, the impoverished.

It’s not the first meeting of the two composers, who worked together on the Little Bushman vs The APO project in 2008.

“I enjoy these sorts of collaborations,” says Psathas. “Warren, Nathan and I generally work in separate worlds, so concerts like Amped remind us that what we do isn’t jazz or roots or classical – it’s music.”

Who: Nathan Haines, Warren Maxwell, John Psathas, David, Hamish McKeich Jones and the APO

What: APO Amped, for NZ Music Month

Where: Auckland Town Hall

When: 3 May, 7.30pm

Book: THE EDGE 09 357 3355 or www.buytickets.co.nz

Further information

- As well as Pounamu, conductor Hamish McKeich has led the APO in two other world premieres of John Psathas’s work: the APO vs Little Bushman project (2008) and The New Zeibekiko in March this year for the Auckland Arts Festival.

- Between them, Nathan Haines, Warren Maxwell and John Psathas have won six NZ Music Awards and received many more nominations.

- A recording of the concerto Omnifenix has been made with Joshua Redman playing tenor sax and Lance Philip on drums. The album is called View From Olympus, it won the Best Classical Album award at the NZ Music Awards, and is available on Rattle Records.

- David Jones is a very experienced drummer based in Australia (www.davidjonesdrums.com.au/).

- A junior concert – Discover APO Fusion – is being held in Auckland Town Hall at 11.30am on 3 May. Designed for intermediate and secondary students, it features Nathan Haines and Warren Maxwell, plus young musicians who’ve been involved with the APO through mentoring, and composition or performance students who’ve won prizes/scholarships we offer.