Six New Zealand composers have been selected to work with up and coming opera singers to create a work for voice and orchestra as part of the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra's 2008 Lion Foundation Composers' Workshop.

New Zealand Opera Associate Conductor John Rosser says it is a rare opportunity for the Emerging Artists.

"Very few singers are ever fortunate enough to have a work written specifically for them, let alone tailored over a period of time to their particular vocal qualities. What's more, the selection process seemed to produce in each case a quite uncanny fit between composer and singer, so we are eagerly anticipating the result!"The APO has joined with The NBR New Zealand Opera to match the composers with a PwC Dame Malvina Major Emerging Artist. The composers will have their completed works performed by the Emerging Artists and the APO and recorded in September.

The six composers selected and the singers they have been matched with are:

Matthew Crawford (Auckland Central) - matched with Barbara Graham (Wellington)

Matthew, who is a producer for Radio New Zealand Concert, will compose a piece around a poem by Karlo Mila called A Place to Stand.

Penny Dodd (Sandringham, Auckland) - matched with Barbara Paterson (Wellington)

Penny will write a piece around Medea's soliloquy from Euripides', Medea. Penny is an experienced song arranger and pianist well known for her 'Hell' shows with Helen Medlyn. This will be her first original composition in 20 years!

David Hamilton (Balmoral, Auckland) - matched with Hadleigh Adams (Wellington)

David is an experienced composer and composition teacher. The composers' workshop enables him to realise a long-term personal project, an operatic work based on the Air New Zealand Erebus crash of 1979. His work for orchestra and baritone will be part of this work.

Jeff Lin (Howick, Auckland) - matched with Michael Gray (Dunedin)

Jeff is a music student at the University of Auckland. His work will be based around a poem by Chinese poet and the last emperor of the Southern Tang dynasty, Li Yu (937-978) called How Can a Man Escape Life's Sorrow and Regret?

Anthony Ritchie pictured (Dunedin) - matched with Matthew Landreth (Dunedin)

Anthony is a Dunedin-based composer and lecturer in composition at the University of Otago. His work will set three poems by Hone Tuwhare, including Rain, to music. His previous works based around New Zealand literature have included other poems by Tuwhare and an opera based on Ian Cross's novel, The God Boy.

Anthony Young (Howick, Auckland) - matched with Julia Hill (Hamilton)

Anthony is an Auckland-based composer and teacher. He will collaborate with Canadian playwright, Leanna Brodie, on a piece called The Angle of Reflection. The work is about a mother of a blind baby who is trying to work out how to explain the concept of 'light' to her son.

The APO Lion Foundation Composers' Workshop is a long-standing programme but this is the first year the orchestra has collaborated with The NBR New Zealand Opera on the workshop.

"The Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra and The NBR New Zealand Opera are thrilled to be able to provide New Zealand composers with this opportunity to write a piece for orchestra and voice," says APO Chief Executive, Barbara Glaser.

"This is a fantastic opportunity for these composers to not only create a new work but also to collaborate with the singers and the musicians. The composers selected represent a wide range of compositional talent in New Zealand and their proposals hint at the creation of some very special works."

The composers will attend APO rehearsals and get to know the musicians before they have their first piano read-through of their new work in June 2008. Each composer will work closely with their assigned singer throughout the writing process and the APO's current Composer-in-Residence, Gareth Farr, will be available to offer support.

The six new pieces for solo singer and orchestra will first be played by the APO in July and then, after a period for revision, recorded in September. The recording sessions will be open to arts practitioners who may be interested in programming any of the pieces for future performance.

18/01/08