Illuminating North America

The first of the two-day New Zealand in L.A. festival at the city’s REDCAT theatre featured eight chamber and solo works by New Zealand composers and renowned performer on Maori instruments, Richard Nunns. Los Angeles Times reviewer Mark Swed wrote: “This festival is the inspiration of Mark Menzies, a CalArts violinist from New Zealand with exceptional new music chops. Every work was interesting, unusual, communicative, convincingly performed and new to North America. Christopher Cree Brown’s duo for violin (Menzies) and cello (Erica Duke-Kirkpatrick) might have been a mating call from a curious, previously unknown species. Victoria Kelly’s dramatically glacial piano trio ‘Sono’ completed the impressive and illuminating program.”


Tags: Los Angeles Times  Mark Menzies  Richard Nunns  

Amy Brown’s New Novel Inspired by Women and Art

Amy Brown’s New Novel Inspired by Women and Art

Like many writers before her, New Zealand-born Amy Brown takes inspiration from the Australian feminist icon Stella Maria Miles Franklin in her captivating debut novel My Brilliant Sister – but instead…