Upbeat Podcast Options

12:30 PM.University of Canterbury School of Music's Mark Menzies and Tomas Hurnik are touring a group of young musicians around the South Island. It's a programme of mostly Baroque music but also includes a… Read more Audio

12:30 PM.Sounds collected from a trip to Antarctica provide inspiration for this year's NZSO National Youth Orchestra Composer In Residence, Ihlara McIndoe. Read more Audio

12:30 PM.Congratulations to Dr Glenda Keam, who received an MNZM in the 2021 New Year Honours. Read more Audio

12:30 PM.Composer Claire Cowan has finished her year in style with the release of a deluxe double CD of her ballet score Hansel & Gretel recorded by the NZSO.  Read more Video, Audio

12:30 PM."Singing together brings nations together" - that's the motto of the World Choir Games, which will be taking place in Auckland in 2024. Read more Audio

12:30 PM.Beethoven has been a constant feature throughout Michael Houstoun's career. The New Zealand pianist tells Eva Radich why, as he prepares for his all-Beethoven recital to celebrate the composer's… Read more Audio

12:30 PM.The 2019-20 New Zealand Secondary Students' Choir comes together one last time to present concerts in Auckland and Wellington at the end of difficult year which saw many of the choir's events… Read more Audio

12:30 PM.Dr Nancy November has been awarded a Marsden Grant for research into the social lives of nineteenth-century women through a musical lens. She'll be looking at the small-scale, ‘play at home’ versions… Read more Audio

12:30 PM.The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra shares some details of what to expect in its 2021 season. Read more Audio

12:30 PM.Canterbury's newest opera company, Toi Toi Opera, is dedicated to celebrating local talent and making opera more accessible to the community. Read more Audio

12:30 PM.Counsel in Concert is a choir and orchestra made up of lawyers and legal staff from throughout the Wellington region, along with friends from New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and Orchestra Wellington.

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12:30 PM.Conductor José Aparicio and Hawke's Bay musicians get together this weekend to 'create some beauty'. Read more Audio

12:30 PM."The audience is hungry for the arts," says Orchestra Wellington's music director Marc Taddei. The orchestra's 2021 season, which celebrates the virtuoso, has just been launched. Read more Audio

12:30 PM.Ariana Tikao and Alistair Fraser are two of New Zealand's leading exponents of ngā taonga puoro. Their first duo album, Nau Mai e Kā Hua, has just been released on Rattle. Read more Audio

12:30 PM.Retiring Manager of the Nelson Music Festival Trust, Bob Bickerton, talks about the music in his life. Read more Audio

12:30 PM.The Auckland Youth Choir under new director Rowan Johnston finally gets to perform this year in their upcoming concert The Final Frontier. Read more Audio

12:30 PM.NZTrio's cellist Ashley Brown talks us through the ensemble's upcoming concert series, Constellations. Read more Audio

12:30 PM.The percussion section is usually found at the back of the orchestra, but this Saturday percussionist Jeremy Fitzsimons moves to the front of the stage for a performance of John Psathas' double… Read more Audio

12:30 PM.One-time Kiwi pianist Eugene Albulescu reflects on his new release, Beethoven Piano Concertos 1 & 5 “Emperor,” and how the joy and optimism of Beethoven's music is nourishing in times of uncertainty… Read more Audio

12:38 PM.Chinese composer Gao Ping talks about his new work being premiered this week as part of the China Crossing concert series at Te Kōkī (NZSM). The concert also features a repeat performance of 'Bitter… Read more Audio

12:30 PM.Synthony is something of a New Zealand phenomenon. This collaboration between the worlds of DJs and orchestras, performing dance hits coupled with an immersive light show, sells out everywhere it… Read more Video, Audio

12:30 PM.John Psathas has collaborated with ten Kiwi producers and five guest performers on a new album of music for our times. It's called 'It's Already Tomorrow' and it comes out this Friday.  Read more Audio

12:30 PM.New Zealand baritone Phillip Rhodes has had a tough year seeing all his work disappear, coupled with the loss of his mother. Performing in the Royal Albert Hall with a group of other Kiwi singers has… Read more Audio

12:30 PM.Julien Van Mellaerts shares the joy of singing with Kiwi artists in England for the Whānau: Voices of Aotearoa, far from home concert - an incredibly emotional selection of songs from Aotearoa and the… Read more Audio

12:30 PM.See a harp up close, watch a masterclass with one of New Zealand's top pianists, or have a go at conducting - all part of the NZSO's Open Doors day leading up to their final Podium Series concert for… Read more Audio