Upbeat Podcast Options

12:30 PM.Conductor James Judd makes his debut with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra performing Smetana's Má Vlast. Read more Audio

12:04 PM.We catch-up with chamber music trio Vieux Amis, halfway through their national tour, and learn the real story behind the group's name. Read more Audio

12:30 PM.Ashley Brown is the solo cellist in the upcoming Crouching Tiger Concerto. It turns out the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra could not have invited a bigger fan to join them. Read more Audio

12:41 PM.Standing Room Only's Lynn Freeman interviews Elizabeth Smither the authour of The Piano Girls. Read more Audio

12:00 AM.The winners of the NZCT Chamber Music Contest have been announced. Vich Perfect overcame enormous odds and behind-the-scenes drama to take out the Platinum Award. Read more Audio

12:30 PM.Some of our best home-grown talent are back in the country, albeit briefly. Baritone Benson Wilson and soprano Claire Filer join a star-studded cast for the upcoming Opera Gala Concert. Read more Audio

12:30 PM.Music has the power to move people in ways both seen and unseen. Sarah Hoskyns, professor and music therapist talks about how music has the power to heal. Read more Audio

12:30 PM.Where craft beer and coffee meet classical music. This year's Classical on Cuba is back. Wind trio Capital Reeds talk to Upbeat about what to expect when these cultures collide. Read more Audio

12:30 PM.Tony Ryan, our eyes and ears in Christchurch, fills us in on what we can catch this month in the Garden City. This time he is lauding all things local. Read more Audio

12:30 PM.Fresh out of MIQ, New Zealand String Quartet's new general manager Marcus Norman has hit the ground running. He breaks down his role on Upbeat and explains why the emphasis should be on 'general'. Read more Audio

12:30 PM.Royal New Zealand Ballet resident choreographer Loughlan Prior talks to David Morriss after the opening night of The Firebird with Paquita. Read more Audio

12:30 PM.The NZCT Chamber Music Contest is back for 2021. Event organiser Beckie Lockhart gives us a peek behind-the-scenes in the lead up to the finals in August. Read more Audio

12:30 PM.For people living with neurological conditions the Cantabrainers Choir offers singing, socialising, and speech therapy. In that order. Read more Audio

12:30 PM.Soprano Deborah Wai Kapohe pulled apart her singing technique while under South Africa's lockdown. Back in Aotearoa, she is showcasing what she learned of the "bel canto" style during that time. Read more Audio

12:30 PM.Our 'man in Vienna', violinist Ben Morrison, is the only Kiwi to play in the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. He's in New Zealand for a series of concerts. Read more Audio

12:30 PM.We catch up with Auckland vocal quartet The Shades at the start of their six-centre New Zealand tour. Read more Audio

12:30 PM.Justin DeHart has new album of solo percussion music out - and it's all by New Zealand composers. Read more Audio

12:30 PM.Welcome to TrioZeus, one of the good things to come out of Covid disruptions. The recently-formed ensemble is made up of young musicians Tony Yan Tong Chen, Diane Huh and Ben van Leuven. Read more Audio

3:33 PM.Currently on in Wellington, The White Tree is the last work written by internationally-renowned children's theatre specialist and puppeteer Peter Wilson. Read more Audio

12:05 PM.Upbeat catches up with violinist Cathy Irons who, along with harpist Helen Webby, is touring recital programme Fantasie in Central Otago. Read more Audio

12:30 PM.Opus Orchestra's next concerts are a celebration of New Zealand composition and include Gareth Farr's Marimba Concerto, written especially for Yoshiko Tsuruta. Read more Audio

12:30 PM.Multi-instrumentalist Adam Page is the saxophone soloist in the premiere of John Psathas' concerto 'Call of the Wild', performed this Saturday evening with Orchestra Wellington. Read more Audio

12:30 PM.Lucy Simon's musical based on the classic children's book by Frances Hodgson Burnett is being performed in Christchurch for the first time next week. Read more Audio

12:30 PM.Christchurch is hosting the 2021 contest which takes place on 14-18 July and includes concerts, plenty of free events and a street parade. Read more Audio

12:30 PM.Music by Antonio Vivaldi features in the latest production by Tim Bray Theatre Company, which is celebrating 30 years of professional children's theatre in Auckland. Read more Audio