Simon O’Neill in Concert with Woolston Brass

John Rhind presents Simon O’Neill in Concert with Woolston Brass
Friday 8 November, 7.30pm, James Hay Theatre, Tickets available from Ticketek, click HERE
Sunday 10 November, 2.00pm, Ashburton Trust Event Centre, Tickets available from TicketDirect, click HERE

Proudly sponsored by John Rhind, international tenor star Simon O’Neill joins Christchurch’s iconic Woolston Brass under the direction of Music Director Tyme Marsters to perform tenor classics and raise funds for the band’s future home.

New Zealand born, Simon O’Neill has established himself as one of the finest helden-tenors on the international stage. He has frequently performed with the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Berlin, Hamburg and Bayerische Staatsopern, Teatro alla Scala and the Bayreuth, Salzburg, Edinburgh and BBC Proms Festivals, appearing with a number of illustrious conductors.

The Woolston Brass Band has been in existence for 128 years and is the most successful and recognised band in New Zealand. Woolston Brass consists of over thirty musicians drawn from a variety of professions and ages brought together by a creative talent for making music. The band has remained true to the ideal expressed in its Maori motto, Tohea kia kaha (Persevere, so there is Strength).

Simon O’Neill is proudly donating his voice to help Woolston Brass raise funds for the new band hall. The fundraising concerts being held Friday 8 November at the Christchurch James Hay Theatre and Sunday 10 November at the Ashburton Trust Event Centre will feature tenor classics such as traditional Irish ballad Danny Boy (Londonderry Air), Caruso written by Italian composer Dalla, the famous Swedish Folk Song (How Great Thou Art) and the iconic aria Largo Al Factotum from Rossini’s opera The Barber of Seville. Woolston Brass will also perform contemporary brass band works such as Tom Davoren’s Phoenix Rising and the movement Phoenix from Peter Graham’s War of the Worlds Suite, both of these works emulate the rise of a Phoenix from the ashes of destruction.

Woolston Brass will perform a major composition A Brussels Requiem composed by Bert Appermont that reflects on the tragic circumstances of the terrorist attacks in the Belgian capital in 2016. In light of this year’s terrorist attacks in Christchurch it also pays a personal tribute to the innocent lives lost in recent times.

The unique blend of Simon O’Neill’s outstanding tenor voice and the brass sounds from one of New Zealand’s finest brass bands is a treat for the ears and an opportunity not to be missed!