FIND TICKETS HERE.

Presenting, our 2026 Season: Storytellers.

Across a three-part Wellington series, we'll explore three distinct programmes: Origins, Transform and Legend. We’ll boldly showcase more compositional voices than ever before, beginning with classical masterworks that resonate through the centuries, through to modern-day Grammy-winners and the distinctive voices of Aotearoa. The three string quartets of Benjamin Britten form the heart of our 2026 Season, to mark the 50th anniversary of the composer’s death.

Storytellers reflects a rich cross-section of our society and celebrates the art of storytelling through music. Join us in concert 2026 and let us tell you a story.

PROGRAMME FOR LEGEND:

Ludwig van Beethoven String Quartet No. 11, in F minor (Op. 95)

Interval

Claire Cowan Scenes from Hansel & Gretel

Benjamin Britten String Quartet No. 3, in G major (Op. 94)

To be announced: A new work by an emerging composer from New Zealand School of Music - Te Kōkī

‘Legend’ opens with Beethoven’s high-octane Op. 95 quartet, a piece that changed the direction of string quartet writing and continues to surprise and thrill audiences to this day.

Claire Cowan was the first New Zealand woman to compose a full-length ballet. Here she takes scenes from her internationally-celebrated score ‘Hansel and Gretel’, reimagining the magic of the ballet stage for string quartet.

Celebrating the next generation of New Zealand composers, a brand-new piece will be written by a composition student from the New Zealand School of Music – Te Kōkī. Students will have the opportunity to submit their compositions to the competition, the winning composition will be chosen and announced in late 2026.

To bring our 2026 Season to a close, we’ll mark the fiftieth anniversary of Benjamin Britten’s death with his third and final string quartet. This quietly luminous piece, based on themes from his final opera, ‘Death in Venice’, serves as a poignant musical farewell, made even more profound by the fact it was the last major work Britten ever composed.

Explore the rest of the series:

Origins | Wednesday 6 May, 6:30pm | Prefab Hall, Wellington

Transform | Wednesday 12 August, 6:30pm | Prefab Hall, Wellington