Photo: Supplied / Donovan Bixley, Auckland Philharmonia
Move over Camille Saint-Saëns, New Zealand has its own version of the Carnival of the Animals.
Donovan Bixley's illustrated book, The Fantabulous Animal Orchestra, is now a work for narrator and orchestra with music composed by Camryn Nel.
Bixley's book imagines an orchestra made up of animals with a child conductor.
Author and illustrator Donovan Bixley. Photo: Supplied
It's both a guide to the sections of the orchestra, but it also has an ecological message, as one by one the various sections fall silent.
Bixley and Nel joined RNZ Concert to talk about their collaboration.
The Auckland Philharmonia will present The Fantabulous Animal Orchestra, with Bixley narrating, as part of its Tunes 4 Tamariki concerts on 28 March and 12 April.
Composer and conductor Camryn Nel. Photo: Deane Cohen Photography
