Artist Spotlight: Q&A with NZTrio cellist Matthias Balzat
Adding a viola and double bass, NZTrio He Taonga Wairere will be creating a quintet in the upcoming tour of NZTrio+ in the CMNZ Series to perform Schubert's ebullient and beloved Trout Quintet.
We caught up with NZTrio cellist Matthias Balzat and asked him about touring, what he's most looking forward to in the upcoming NZTrio+ tour, and which artists he'd most like to work with.
What are you most excited about for your upcoming tour with Chamber Music New Zealand?
I can't wait for the Trout! That will be my first run at the piece, and it couldn't be alongside a better lineup
As part of NZTrio, you travel a lot. What’s on your travelling playlist?
Big question, as our playlists explore so many artists and genres. One of the classics that always recurs is Paolo Nutini.
What’s been your most memorable moment as a performer?
Too many to choose from, but one of the 2025 highlight moments for me was certainly performing Britten's Cello Symphony with Neue Philharmonie Westfalen. Coming to the close of the 4th movement is a moment truly spectacular and unique in its grandeur.
Apart from the essentials, what’s the one thing you always take on tour?
Aside from the essentials, I make sure to bring along my Garmin sport watch, in case I have a moment to shake out and go for a run.
If you could collaborate with any artist, dead or alive, who would it be
Ivry Gitlis, Janine Jansen or Martha Argerich, to name a few of many!
NZTrio+ will be touring Nelson, Invercargill, Christchurch, Dunedin, New Plymouth, Palmerston North, Wellington, Napier, Auckland and Hamilton in September of 2026. Book for CMNZ's 2026 Season Te Hiringa Oro - The Experience of Sound, and secure your tickets for this lyrical and summery delight and more.
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Artist Spotlight: Q&A with award-winning author Tina Makereti
Ā mua is a groundbreaking new work commissioned by Chamber Music New Zealand for our 2026 season. Incorporating kupu (word), taonga puoro, and orchestral string instruments, it's an exploration of how the past, present and future intertwine and connect. "Ki te Whai Ao, ki Te Ao Marama. Light comes into the world. Matter spirals into being. The history of humanity rolls out—longer and more fascinating and complicated than we can imagine, and you have lived many lives through it, coming into and out of being," writes award-winning author Tina Makereti (Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Rangatahi-Matakore, Pākehā), who collaborated with composer and multi-instrumentalist Riki Gooch to create Ā mua. We caught up with Tina and had a chat about writing, her creative process and the experience of working with musicians.
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For our 2026 season, Te Hiringa Oro – The Experience of Sound, we commissioned a work called Ā mua, combining kupu (spoken word), taonga puoro, cello and viola. A collaborative creative endeavour by award-winning author Tina Makereti (Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Rangatahi-Matakore, Pākehā) and composer, conductor and multi-instrumentalist Riki Gooch (Ngāti Wai, Patuharakeke, Ngaati Maahanga), it's a unique and intimate journey through time and space, blending Māori futurism and universal human stories in an intimate and evocative performance. We caught up with Riki and asked him a few questions about his creative process and the show.
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