July was a very busy month of music making

First up, in the first week of the July school holiday I got to be a part of the Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra and The NZ Freemasons Foundation Opera Chorus’ production of La Traviata. I played 1st clarinet in La Banda. I spent each night of the performance week in rehearsal in the Auckland Town Hall. Meeting and getting to play with the members of the APO and being conducted by Giordano Bellincampi was an amazing experience. 

In the second week of the Holiday I spent the week in Cambridge with the NZ Youth Symphonic Winds. I auditioned and was accepted to the groups’ 2025/2026 session on 1st Clarinet during term 1. 

We spent the week at St Peter’s School in Cambridge, rehearsing a programme of 9 pieces which included a new piece by the NZ composer David Hamilton 'Jekyll and Hyde’. I had a great week playing with young musicians from all over NZ. 

The week concluded with 2 community performances, one at St Peter’s School on Thursday evening and the second at the Cambridge town Hall on Friday morning. I’m looking forward to the next session which will take place in Dunedin in January 2026.

by  Charlotte Marriott