A weekend of wonderful music

The trumpet section of the Bay of Plenty Music School in rehearsal in 2024.

Organisers are pushing for plenty of local participation in this year’s Bay of Plenty Music School in Taupō in May.

By Chris Marshall

It is the second staging of the school in Taupō in a row and will not occur for another decade as it moves on its regular cycle around other regional centres, says organising committee member and Taupō flute tutor Carrie Vander Zwaag.

It should more accurately be considered a music camp, she said.

“It’s really a weekend of workshops, combined rehearsals and a final performance at the end on Sunday afternoon at the Great Lake Centre.”

From May 2 to 4 local instrumentalists get the chance to play alongside others from the Bay of Plenty and further afield with a string orchestra, full orchestra, concert band and choir under the guidance of visiting, nationally renowned conductors, says Vander Zwaag.

Over 100 musicians took part last year in the school which as an organisation was started in 1966 in Whakatane and has evolved to be the longest surviving such music school in the country.

It relies on sponsorship and grants to subsidise the entry fee, as well as offering scholarships to students under 25 years in full-time study.

Orchestral pieces for the koha entry concert at the Great Lake Centre on Sunday, May 4 will be chosen from ‘Finlandia’ by ​Sibelius, ‘Scheherazade’ by Rimsky-Korsakov or ‘Pines of the Appian Way’​ by Respighi and a feature is always the combined piece featuring all the participants in attendance – full orchestra, band members and choir.

This year’s combined offering is the popular ‘Do you hear the people sing?’  from Les Miserables.

Those wanting to take part in this year’s school can register through the school’s website.

The 2025 BOPMS workshop is supported by New Zealand Community Trust and Creative Communities New Zealand.