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5 July 2011
Diedre Irons is back to playing and will join Martin Riseley for their scheduled performance in Motueka on Friday 8 July.
Following a recent fall and subsequent injury to her hand, Diedre Irons had to unfortunately cancel her concerts with flutist Alexa Still and violinist Martin Riseley in Palmerston North, New Plymouth, Nelson, and Invercargill in late June and early July. Newly appointed New Zealand School of Music Assistant Professor of Piano Jian Liu stepped in at the last minute to replace Diedre.
However, Diedre has now been given the all-clear from her hand-specialist and says she is "playing my little heart out" in anticipation of Friday's concert.
As two of New Zealand's best-loved performers, Martin Riseley and Diedre Irons need no introduction to chamber music audiences.
Recently returned to New Zealand, audiences will remember Martin Riseley as the winner of the TVNZ Young Musicians Competition in 1988. In 1996, Martin gained a Doctorate of Musical Arts from New York's Juilliard School of Music, and for fifteen years he was Concertmaster of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra in Canada. In 2009, Martin was appointed as Head of Strings at the New Zealand School of Music.
Diedre Irons has taught at the University of Canterbury and the New Zealand School of Music, and she has toured extensively as a performer, both in New Zealand and internationally. Equally at home performing solo or with chamber musicians, Diedre's performances are always praised for their intimacy and great sensitivity.
The duo's programme will differ slightly from advertised. They will play Mozart's Sonata No 21 in E minor K 304, a new CMNZ commission by New Zealand School of Music composer Stephan Prock, Beethoven's Sonata in G Opus 96 'The Cockcrow', and Richard Strauss's Sonata in E flat Opus 18.