2017 is a busy year for Australian Bass James Clayton. He’s playing the title role in New Zealand Opera’s The Mikado, and Escamillo in Carmen before jetting across the Tasman to work in Melbourne and Adelaide. The French horn player turned singer only found his voice a decade ago and now is passing on his knowledge to the next generation at the New Zealand School of Music when he’s not on stage.

Celebrated Chinese composer and conductor Tan Dun will make his Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra debut on Tuesday with his new work Passacaglia: Secret of Wind and Birds which tries to explain the world around us. The composer is famous for his work on the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the score to the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

More than 40 singers aged between 6 and 70 will take to the stage in Wellington this week for the premiere of new musical The Queen of Tarts. Written by Paul Percey and Michael Vinten, and directed by Jacqui Coats, the musical follows the trial of Humpty Dumpty who’s accused of stealing the Queen’s tarts. The family focused show was created by Bacchus Theatre Trust which has been established to provide suitable musicals for school aged children.

Moses Mackay, one third of Sol3 Mio, talks to Zoë George about going out on his own, the move to more contemporary music and the price of fame.

Famed kiwi musician Tim Finn has ventured into the world of musicals with Ladies in Black. The musical is set in 1959 in an up-market department store in Sydney and follows 16 year old lead character Lisa Myles. Co-created by Simon Phillips and Caroline Burns, the show will hit the road around Australia this year.

Your surrounding environment can inspire creativity. For Amsterdam based dancer and choreographer Frank van de Ven this is the basis of his artistic philosophy. He’s giving a week long workshop at Jerusalem on the Whanganui River in February which explores the intersection of artists’ bodies and the landscape around them.

Story telling is at the heart of musician Jamie McCaskill’s new one man show Mata and the Mysterious Musical Maunga which he performs as part of Capital E’s National Arts Festival for children in March. It’s a hectic time for Jamie whose play The Biggest, which uses comedy to examine the racism inherent in small town New Zealand, is on at Auckland arts Festival in March.

Horns, hooks and improvised jazz all make up the spectacle that is a Snarky Puppy concert. The band, which has a roster of 25 musicians, returns to Auckland in April. Band founder and bassist Michael League explains how Snarky Puppy make jazz concerts sell-outs wherever they go and why they are returning to NZ so soon after their last visit.

New Zealand plays host to the 44th International Viola Congress this September. Organiser Donald Maurice and congress manager Elyse Dalabakis explain why they’ve decided to bring it to Wellington. The Congress is usually held in Europe and aims to promote the often neglected instrument. One of the visiting guests will be star Russian-Italian violist Anna Serova.

What does it take to compose an original piece in just 10 days? Prolific Christchurch composer Philip Norman takes Upbeat through the creative process behind his new piece written while he was the composer-in-residence at the New Zealand Singing School. The original piece Let Me Describe For You Her Eyes was performed by mezzo soprano Pasquale Orchard and pianist Juan Kim.