A very special piano-focused programme with Hungarian Festival Artist Daniel Lebhardt bringing a piece of his heritage to AWE. This launches us on a journey across Europe, starting in Hungary and looking westwards with folk melodies, ancient and contemporary, from England to the USA. This programme features works very directly influenced by folk music with thee pieces by Béla Bartók who is seen as a leading figure in the classical folk tradition.  His works are interspersed by pieces by this year's Composer-in-Residence, Aotearoa's own Eve de Castro-Robinson. Eve's solo piano pieces feature as individual ideas inspired by a tour of an art gallery forming a connection point between music and visual art


Out of Doors programme:
- Béla Bartók Three Rondos on Slovak Folk Tunes
- Béla Bartók Out of Doors, interspersed with selections of Eve de Castro-Robinson’s a zigzagged gaze
- Béla Bartók Rhapsody No.1 for violin and piano
- Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (arr. Maud Powell) Deep River from 24 Negro Melodies, op.59 for violin and piano
- Thomas Tomkins A Sad Pavan for These Distracted Tymes
- Percy Grainger Walking Tune, Spoon River and Shepherd’s Hey

The evening begins with a very special free AWE+ event, following a local pianist showcase. At 6:30pm, we offer a free programme, a performance of folk songs curated by Australian baritone, Morgan Pearse, in response to the festival’s folk theme. Performed by baritone Morgan Pearse with pianists Daniel Lebhardt and Madeleine Xiao, and violinist Lorna Zhang.

Programme:

Maurice Ravel Five Popular Greek Melodies
Gustav Holst Four Songs for Violin and Voice
Benjamin Britten Folk Song Arrangements:The Salley Gardens, The Foggy, foggy dew, Little Sir William, The Crocodile
Camille Saint-Saëns Violons dans le soir

A 30-minute programme, presented before Out of Doors.

Free entry.