NZTRIO ANNOUNCES 2026 PROGRAMME DREAMSCAPE, A SEASON OF IMAGINATIVE MUSIC

NZTrio He Taonga Wairere is thrilled to announce its 2026 programme Dreamscape, a richly layered season exploring the lyrical warmth and emotional depth of Robert Schumann’s piano trios interwoven with musical gems from Aotearoa. 

Throughout the year NZTrio will perform across the motu, alongside collaborations with Chamber Music New Zealand, Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Wellington, The Michael Hill International Violin Competition, festival appearances and the return of the much-loved Groove Café series. Dreamscape weaves together music from New Zealand, the USA, India, Turkey and Poland, passing through surreal and unexpected sonic worlds.

NZTrio’s 2026 series features Amalia Hall (violin), Somi Kim (piano) and Matthias Balzat (cello), touring nationwide from May through to December and visiting centres including Auckland, Wellington, Whitianga, Palmerston North, Nelson, Dunedin, Whangārei and more.

 “When we were creating the programmes for DREAMSCAPE, we decided to place Robert Schumann’s deeply personal and Romantic piano trios at the epicentre. The dramatic intensity of his works felt like the perfect basis for weaving around a curated selection of scintillating works for our audiences. With eight of the thirteen composers still alive, we wanted the composers of our generation to take centre stage, alongside exciting masterworks yet to be performed in Aotearoa New Zealand. DREAMSCAPE is dangerously adventurous, with music spanning from funky Kiwi commissions old and new, epic tunes from legendary US composers, to pure romantic fervour - trust us, you'll love it.” - NZTrio. 
 
The first programme in the series, Dreamscape, brings together Roxanna Panufnik’s Around Three Corners, Schumann’s Piano Trio No. 1 in d minor, Claire Cowan’s inventive wood : strings : hammers : flesh and Charles Ives’ boldly original Piano Trio. This programme features guest pianist Jian Liu, who will be standing in for Somi while she takes parental leave.

Later in the year, Space Jump crackles with energy, pairing Fazıl Say’s vivid Space Jump and Schumann’s Piano Trio No. 2 with a new work by New Zealand composer Keith Moss, alongside Reena Esmail’s Piano Trio, a compelling fusion of Indian raags and Western classical traditions.

“I’m particularly looking forward to performing Reena Esmail’s piano trio from our ‘Space Jump’ programme. Her piano trio fuses soaring Hindustani lyricism with punchy, high-energy chamber writing, forcing all three of us to ride the edge rhythmically and emotionally. It’s chamber music that feels like an adrenaline hit and a fantastic work that Aotearoa hasn’t heard before." says Somi Kim

Closing the 2026 programme, Reverie opens with Hanna Kulenty’s A Cradle Song, followed by Schumann’s Piano Trio No. 3 in g minor, Adam Schoenberg’s Las Estrellas and a major new commission Icarus on Titan by Karlo Margetić, written for NZTrio with support from the SOUNZ Tarling Trust commissioning project. The programme concludes with Leonard Bernstein’s youthful Piano Trio.

Tickets and more information at: www.nztrio.com/event-directory

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Note: correct spelling ‘NZTrio’ – no spaces, no ‘the’, not ‘The New Zealand Trio’
 

DATES AND BOOKING DETAILS:

GROOVE CAFÉ
27 Feb – Nelson Centre of Musical Arts - tickets
28 Feb – Aotearoa Festival of the Arts, Te Raukura ki Kāpiti, Raumati Beach - tickets 
1 Mar – Gallagher Academy of Performing Arts, Hamilton - tickets
6 Mar – Symphonia Hall, Auckland - tickets 
7 Mar – Waiheke Musical Museum - tickets 
8 Mar – Thames Music Group, St George’s Church - tickets

DREAMSCAPE
9 May – Warkworth Town Hall - tickets
10 May – Auckland Concert Chamber - tickets
16 May – Cambridge Town Hall - tickets
17 May – St Andrew’s on the Sea, Whitianga - tickets 
21 May – Globe Theatre, Palmerston North - tickets
22 May – Waihinga Centre, Martinborough - tickets 
23 May – Te Matapihi ki te Ao Nui, Wellington - tickets 

SPACE JUMP
15 Aug – Gallagher Academy of Performing Arts, Hamilton - tickets
16 Aug – Auckland Concert Chamber - tickets 
21 Aug – Lawson Field Theatre, Gisborne - tickets
22 Aug – St Paul’s Church, Napier - tickets
23 Aug – Te Matapihi ki te Ao Nui, Wellington - tickets 
30 Aug – Greytown, 57 Wood Street - tickets through efjacooke@gmail.co.nz

REVERIE
31 Oct – Te Matapihi ki te Ao Nui, Wellington - tickets 
1 Nov – Sarjeant Gallery, Whanganui - tickets available soon
4 Nov – Dunedin Public Art Gallery - tickets 
5 Nov – The Piano, Christchurch - tickets
6 Nov – Nelson Centre of Musical Arts - tickets
8 Nov – Auckland Concert Chamber - tickets 
14 Nov – Turner Centre Bar, Kerikeri - tickets
15 Nov – The Old Library, Whangārei - tickets
3 Dec – Rotorua Music Society, Sir Howard Morrison Centre - tickets 
4 Dec – Taupō - tickets available soon

OTHER PROGRAMMES
21 Feb – Christchurch Symphony Orchestra “Fauré, Farr, Schumann”, Christchurch Town Hall - tickets 
3-4 June – Michael Hill International Violin Competition Round 3, Auckland Concert Chamber - tickets 
9–26 Sept – Chamber Music New Zealand, Die Forelle / The Trout nationwide tour - tickets 
5 Oct – Morning Melodies “Love & Loss”, Bruce Mason Centre - tickets 
28 Nov – Orchestra Wellington “Oceans”, Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington –tickets