Almost 500 young Auckland musicians are turning up to compete in the annual New Zealand Community Trust Chamber Music Contest.

Almost 500 young Auckland musicians are turning up to compete in the annual New Zealand Community Trust Chamber Music Contest.

The Auckland district contest of the New Zealand Community Trust Chamber Music Contest takes place for five days from Wednesday 4 June and is one of 15 district contests being held nationwide to select the top 12 ensembles who will compete in the National Finals in Christchurch in August.

Traditionally the National Finals have been dominated by ensembles from the Auckland and Christchurch regions.

This year the Auckland contest has attracted 125 ensembles, an increase on last year's entries. Overall, 507 ensembles of between three and eight musicians including 19 octets and involving close to 2000 students, will compete for spots in the National Finals.

Chamber Music New Zealand chief executive Euan Murdoch says he is absolutely delighted with entry numbers for the 2014 contest which are up from 456 ensembles in 2013, adding that particularly pleasing have been dramatic increases in Auckland, Hawke’s Bay, Christchurch and Nelson.

Mr Murdoch said it showed there was still strong interest and support for chamber music in schools and this was excellent news as the competition celebrates its 49th anniversary. The New Zealand Community Trust Chamber Music Contest is the longest running youth music competition in New Zealand and is the only nationwide chamber music competition for young musicians and composers. As well as organising the contest, Chamber Music New Zealand also arranges coaching and open workshops for ensembles.

At the end of each District Contest the winning group from each district, and up to four highly commended groups, will be named and an award will be given for the overall Best Performance of a New Zealand work.

The top ensembles from the District Contests compete in the National Finals on Friday 1 and Saturday 2 August in Christchurch.

Each member of the winning group at the National Final receives the James Wallace Arts Trust Prize of $1000.

The contest also includes an Original Composition section which, this year,  has attracted 37 entries - 27 of which are from Auckland with 12 entered in the Junior Composer category which was introduced in 2012. New Zealand composer Philip Norman will select the winning score and the winning composer will be announced on Monday 16 June. The winner will be awarded the SOUNZ prize of $500.

The New Zealand Community Trust Chamber Music Contest is well-known for nurturing young musicians who go on to successful musical careers. Iconic New Zealand pianist Michael Houstoun competed in the event when he was a school student in Timaru and acclaimed pianist John Chen is also a past winner. He went on to win the 2004 Sydney International Piano Competition and the 2003 Lev Vlassenko Piano Competition and in 2009, his ensemble, Saguaro Trio won the International Chamber Music Competition in Hamburg, Germany.

The New Zealand Community Trust Chamber Music Contest - Auckland District Contest takes place from 4-8 June at the Raye Freedman Centre, Epsom. Entry is $5 per session and the Finals take place on Sunday 8 June at 7pm.

In presenting the New Zealand Community Trust Chamber Music Contest, Chamber Music New Zealand acknowledges the generous support of The New Zealand Community Trust, ABRSM, SOUNZ (Centre for NZ Music), The Wallace Arts Trust, KBB Music and various regional funders who support events at District Contests.

Media Release: Chamber Music New Zealand