Elouan Quartet with Bridget Douglas (flute)

The Elouan Quartet is a newly formed string quartet comprised of NZSO players. The quartet’s first tour was in 2024, representing the NZSO across New Zealand in the orchestra’s annual “Setting Up Camp” tour.

“Folk Tales and Folk Tunes”
This programme explores the rich storytelling traditions and folk influences woven into classical and contemporary music. The programme brings together a diverse range of composers, each drawing on folk elements to create deeply expressive works. Elena Kats-Chernin’s Night and Now reflects her Russian childhood and demonstrates her signature blend of lyrical beauty and rhythmic drive. This is followed by Mozart’s Flute Quartet, an elegant work that demonstrates the composer’s fascination with folk melodies and dance forms.

After the interval, the concert shifts to a New Zealand perspective with a work by Ken Wilson, a composer and clarinettist who was a founding member of the New Zealand National Orchestra. A string quartet by Beethoven will follow before the concert closes with Piazzolla’s Histoire du Tango. This work traces the evolution of Argentine tango from its roots to a sophisticated concert form.