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Maria Mo has performed in New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, and across Europe as both solo recitalist and chamber musician. She was associate artist at the 2014 Australian Cello Awards (Sydney, Australia) and guest artist at the 2010 Semaine Internationale de Piano festival (Blonay, Switzerland), as well as the Gesellschaft für Musiktheater in Vienna. In 2009, she was the winner of the Royal Over-Seas League Arts/Pettman International Scholarship for a New Zealand Chamber Ensemble as pianist for the Leonari trio, which led to an 8-week concert tour and study trip of the United Kingdom in 2010, playing prestigious venues and festivals such as St. Martin-in-the-fields and Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The trio also toured with Chamber Music Zealand in 2012 to critical acclaim. In December 2018, Maria had the honour of being selected to perform for the South Korean President Moon Jae-In on his inaugural trip to New Zealand. Maria studied with Katherine Austin as a Sir Edmund Hillary Music Scholar at the University of Waikato where she received the Hillary Medal and the Lili Kraus Piano Award, and graduated with a Master of Music with First Class Honours in 2009. In 2013 she graduated with Excellence under Professor Doris Adam at the Vienna Conservatory, and received further training from Professor Christopher Hinterhuber at the University for Music and Performing Arts Vienna. She returned to her alma mater at the University of Waikato to commence a Doctor of Musical Arts degree with Katherine Austin in 2018.
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PROGRAMME Piano Sonata No. 30 in E Major, Op. 109 |
"The last three piano sonatas of Beethoven were written between 1820 and 1822. The composer had been completely deaf for many years, which makes these monumental works all the more remarkable in their vastness of colours, textures, structure, and profundity; gone are the neatly balanced conventions of the Classical era, and one witnesses the composer ushering in a new world of expression and sound. Sketches show that Beethoven worked on them at the same time, and they serve as a kind of musical triptych, certainly the Holy Grail of challenges for any pianist. These sonatas - as different as they are - are unified by the one constant theme in Beethoven's life: his enduring love for and pursuit of humanity. Exploring and immersing myself in these sonatas has felt like a trip through the cosmos, an opportunity to search for a deeper meaning and truth in my purpose and identity as a musician. It has been an utter privilege and a noble undertaking to be able to practise them during these uncertain times when the world is full of chaos and anxiety. I believe such works become a companion throughout one's whole life as one continues on their path and revisits to discover more hidden depths and truths, and I look forward to my lifelong journey with them." Maria Mo |
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Time: 7pm, please come between 6.30 and 6.50pm Tickets: $35 (children under 15 years free) TIcket price includes finger food, wine and non-alcoholic drinks. Bookings: fully booked |