The opening work in this concert is Brahms’s lyrical Violin Sonata No 2 in A, performed by outstanding young violinist Sarah Lee. It may be the shortest of Brahms’ violin sonatas, yet you will appreciate Sarah’s skill as she performs the most virtuosic of Brahms’ three violin sonatas. In contrast to Brahm’s work (written when the composer was 53 and at the height of his power), the beautifully simple works by Lili Boulanger was written when the composer was barely in her twenties. Boulanger, was a meteoric star of French music, died less than four years after these two works were composed.

Countertenor Austin Hayes, accompanied by Stephen De Pledge, presents an eclectic programme, from traditional Baroque to two works in te reo, that demonstrates the very special qualities of his voice. I runga o nga puke was performed by Ngāti Kahungunu kaumātua at the 1988 Māori Battalion Reunion; we now hear it arranged for countertenor, as is Apirana Ngata’s translation of Home Sweet Home, most famously performed in te reo by Kiri Te Kanawa in 1991.

Three Festival Young artists, violist Yuxin Chen, clarinettist Marlon Sullivan and pianist Otis Prescott-Mason, perform Mozart’s melodic Trio in E-flat major written in 1786 – the first work ever written for this combination of instruments, when the clarinet was still a relatively new instrument. With its harmonious interplay of the three instruments, it is as enchanting to listen to today as it was nearly 250 years ago.