A fallen New Zealand mountaineer has provided inspiration for an opera by British composer Joby Talbot.

New Zealand musician, composer and producer David Long’s new album is abstract, haunting and beautiful. He collaborated on Utterance with taonga puoro player Richard Nunns and harpist Natalia Mann.  David will perform parts of the new album at City Gallery in Wellington this Thursday.

For the first time a piano soloist is taking over the Auckland Town Hall organ. Brit Jeremy Filsell is a multi-faceted musician who's established a career on piano and organ and is a global authority on Marcel Dupré. Joining him is American organist Erick Suter, who was the organist at Washington National Cathedral for nearly 10 years. They will perform works by Dupré and Jeremy will give a performance of Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.

Two new compositions by the top prize winners of the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra's Student Composers Competition take centre stage in Auckland this weekend. Choral works by Sarah Fouhy and Lachlan Grant are being performed by Auckland Choral. Both composers were mentored by composer David Hamilton, who talks about the process along with Sarah Fouhy. David's work In Flanders Fields is also being performed.

Shakespeare’s turn of phrase has the ability to trip up even the most apt of linguists.  But English actor, author and producer Ben Crystal is making Shakespeare’s words easier to understand and say through “original pronunciation”. He’s here for the Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Festival and to perform in his show Crystal Clear at Circa.

Concern is running high in Waikato over potential staff cuts at the University Conservatorium of Music. Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Waikato are undergoing restructuring by Vice-Chancellor Professor Neil Quigley. The community is rallying behind the Music School staff and its Concert Coordinator Katherine Austin, concerned about the future for Music in the region.

The music of rock's greatest chameleon will fill the Horncastle Arena this Saturday. Symphonic Oddity, the Music of David Bowie features NZ singers Jon Toogood, Julia Deans, Laughton Kora and Anna Coddington with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra celebrating Bowie's forty year career. Jon Toogood is directing the event and says Bowie has always been a major influence on him, and so many other musicians, because he pushed the boundaries of what rock could be.

Michael Houstoun played the entire 96 pieces of Bach's Well Tempered Clavier Books I & II this past weekend. The pieces that make up the two books were written as exercises for Bach's pupils. Peter Hoar evaluates the experience of hearing New Zealand's pre-eminent pianist tackle his latest Bach Marathon.

Annelies is a choral piece that tells Anne Frank’s brave journey of hiding from the Nazis. The work will have its New Zealand premiere this week from the Auckland Youth Choir. British composer James Whitbourn discusses how less is more when you create music to reflect the emotional trajectory of a story as tragic as that of Anne Frank.

Singaporean Darrell Ang is back conducting the NZSO after their Naxos recording was nominated for a Grammy Award last year. Elizabeth Kerr reviews Pathétique – Tchaikovsky & Dvořák which features Armenian cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan playing Dvorak. The concert starts with a piece by award-winning young New Zealander David Grahame Taylor.