This Auckland-based Italian duo bring us a delightful programme of Italian songs and arias ranging from baroque to romantic opera and closing with a bracket of Neapolitan songs, all introduced by the performers and interspersed with piano solos.

Educated in Europe and New Zealand, Lilia Carpinelli holds a Master of Music from Auckland University and a B Mus from the
Conservatorio di Musica Giuseppe Martucci in Italy. Based in Auckland since 2008, Lilia has performed all over the world. She has sung in a wide range of operas and oratorios in New Zealand and is currently a New Zealand Opera Freemasons Resident Artist and member of the NBR Chapman Opera Chorus.

Matteo Napoli, a graduate of the Giordano Conservatoire in Italy, was a prizewinner in significant piano competitions, most notably winning the International Liszt Piano Competition. He has performed worldwide and has recorded six albums with Naxos. He taught in Italian conservatories for many years and is founder and director of two music schools in Italy and director/manager of one in New Zealand. He is also artistic director of PianoSolo Festival in Italy and the Brasov International Piano Competition.

Lilia Carpinelli and Matteo Napoli are bringing us their programme ““A Touch of Italy – from Baroque to Italian Song”. 

Until recently New Zealand-born flautist Barbara Hill has lived in Germany, where she spent most of her life. She recently returned to her home country and now lives in Wellington where she has connected with fellow musicians Michelle Velvin and Robert Ibell to form the Aurum Trio.

Michelle Velvin is a Wellington-based harpist, composer and teacher. She performs regularly with Orchestra Wellington, the NZSO and a variety of chamber music groups.

Robert Ibell, formerly with the NZSO and well known to Waikanae audiences as a member of the Aroha String Quartet, is now a cello and double bass teacher, chamber music coach, adjudicator and freelance performer with many varied ensembles.

This attractive programme is a mix of trios and duos, including original compositions and arrangements from a repertoire very well suited to this combination of instruments. The colour and atmosphere of French Impressionist music from the late 19th and early 20th centuries will be mixed with other works by Bizet, Dohnányi and Villa-Lobos as well as a new work composed for the group by NZ composer Anthony Ritchie.

It is exciting to introduce such an interesting and impressive young pianist as Ida Pelliccioli. Of Italo-Croatian heritage, she is based in France and holds degrees from the Nice Conservatoire and the École Normale de Musique de Paris, as well as a Masters Diploma in Italian Literature and Ancient Greek History from the Sorbonne University.

Ida has chosen to avoid the international competition circuit and has been forging her own performance career, playing throughout Europe, Canada, Australia and South Africa. In 2024 she debuted in Sweden, Lithuania, Austria, Iceland and Australia, and in 2025 she makes her debut in New Zealand and Thailand.

Her multicultural background often shows in her choice of repertoire. She enjoys introducing her audiences to little-known music or collaborating with other musicians and composers. She has even appeared in a movie and an American TV series, where she has taken roles as a pianist. Her programmes are often themed, and for us she will play “Introspections” in which each of the pieces is thoughtful, filled in some way with memory, longing or sorrow.