Artist Spotlight: Q&A with composer John Psathas

John Psathas is one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most prominent composers, with his work achieving global acclaim. Chamber Music New Zealand is honoured to usher into the world The John Psathas Group, a supergroup of global artists dedicated to bringing John’s music to life.

We asked John to share the inspirations that shape his work, what excites him about the tour ahead, and what this project represents for him.

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What are you most excited about for The John Psathas Group’s upcoming tour with Chamber Music New Zealand?

I’m most excited about sharing these performances with New Zealand audiences. All of the music in this tour is known and performed internationally, but is not so well known here in Aotearoa where it was created. I’m also super excited to show Dawn Hardwick, Stephen Gosling, Katarzyna Mycka, and Fabian Ziegler our beautiful country as we travel North to South across New Zealand.

You’ll be on the road a lot during the tour. What’s on your go-to travel playlist?

I’m pretty sure we’ll fighting for control over the playlist! We all have very different tastes. My music choices these days when traveling tend to be calming and relaxing. I use ambient music to balance out the ‘getting there in time’ intensity of touring. A multi-album ambient project I have with Jack Hooker, called “Ambient Ousia” is a major go-to.

What do you draw inspiration from when you’re writing music?

I know a lot of composers who draw inspiration from nature and landscape. My inspiration comes more from human nature and the social landscape of our human civilisation.

Each of the works in this programme tells some part of the story of our shared humanity - from Relentless which projects text about the experience of women through the ages, to The Nature of Reality which pools together the words of writers currently at the forefront of describing how the social fabric of today’s world is being reinvented around us, to Ichi-Go Ichi-E which ponders the relationship of the yet-to-be-born individual to the vast cosmos into which it is about to emerge.

The music (and the visuals) in this tour dives into our unique and our shared experiences as human beings in the first part of the 21st century.

If you could collaborate with any artist, dead or alive, who would it be?

Pat Metheny

What’s your favourite instrument?

All the evidence suggests I’m a wannabe percussionist…

What does this tour mean to you?

This tour is the culmination of a lifetime of work. It brings together some of the greatest players I’ve ever collaborated with into one group and it has allowed me to weave together a kind of ‘meta-composition’ made up of music from many different phases of my creative output. The opportunity to curate an audio-visual programme that results in a very powerful emotional and visceral journey for the audience, is an absolute gift for a composer at this stage in my creative life.

The tour also marks my return to the concert stage; something I’ve been working towards for decades. As an 11-year old I started the musical journey imagining I would be a performer. Discovering composition distracted me (in the best possible sense) away from this goal and here I am 40 years later, finally about to go on tour (with four international virtuosi, so no pressure!).

So I will get to feel from the stage how this music lands with audiences and how it makes people feel. Until now I have experienced this only as a spectator.

What would be the perfect piece of feedback you’d like to hear on tour?

I’ll be hoping that whatever expectations the audience arrive with, these expectations are greatly exceeded. And that there is a powerful response in all three of the senses I’mtrying to reach when composing: the heart (emotions), the mind (concepts and ideas), and the body (rhythm and groove).

The John Psathas Group will be touring Auckland, Hamilton, Hawke's Bay, Wellington, Nelson, Christchurch, and Dunedin this coming August. Secure your tickets for this and more in our early bird sales and take advantage of early bird perks like discounts and bespoke seating.