Christchurch born and bred, Richard Belcher enjoys coming home to perform with the string quartet Enso, he tells Rebecca Fox.
Travelling the world with his music has whetted Richard Belcher's appetite to see more of it.
Although he might not get to see much of the places he travels to when performing, he has a growing list of places he would like to go back to.
"I'm starting to see it as a great way to whet my appetite to see more places.''
Once he has completed his tour of New Zealand with string quartet Enso, the group will head back to the United States to begin the summer festival season as well as travel to Australia and Brazil.
"We spend about half the year on the road. It's mostly exciting although it can get a bit old.''
Despite this, the cello player is doing what he wants to do and loving it.
His base in New York is a far cry from growing up in New Zealand learning the piano like many other Kiwi children.
When he was 8, he joined the Christchurch Cathedral Choir and became immersed in music.
It was during this time he discovered the cello and began to learn the instrument when he was 11.
"My first teacher was amazing. Really warm and supportive and I'm sure that is partly why I love it so much. The cello took over from the piano then.''
His first experience of string quartets was going to Chamber Music New Zealand concerts as a high school and university student.
Despite his passion for music, he never thought of it as something he could do professionally so he enrolled to study pre-law at the University of Canterbury.
"I lasted two weeks before I got my arm twisted to try music, and I loved it.''
Like many young musicians, he wanted to travel and continue his music studies.
"It was the next logical step to keep studying in a different environment, soaking up new experiences.''
So he "squished'' his last year of music study and headed to the United States to begin his master's degree in music at Yale University in time for the start of its school year in September.
"That was where the quartet was founded.''
Part of his course requirement was to perform chamber music. Many students did it to earn extra money. So Enso was formed in 1999. Its name is derived from the Japanese Zen painting of the circle, which represents "perfection and imperfection, the moment of chaos that is creation, the emptiness of the void, the endless circle of life, and the fullness of the spirit''.
One of the attractions of Yale was being able to study with the seven-time Grammy nominated Tokyo String Quartet, he said. Founded in 1969, the quartet joined the Yale School of Music as artists in residence in 1977.
Before the quartet's retirement in 2013, it performed more than 100 concerts annually in North and South America, Europe, Australia, and Asia and released more than 40 landmark recordings.
"They really helped show us the way and got us started on the path. It was an amazing experience.''
The group, which has only two of its original members - Belcher and Maureen Nelson (violin) - is now based in New York because of its location as a travel departure point.
"While we live in New York, most of our concerts are in other places, although we do do a few each year [in New York].''
Enso has been described by Strad magazine as "thrilling'' and praised by The Washington Post for its "glorious sonorities''.
As the group's membership had changed over the years - Ken Hamao (violin) and Melissa Reardon (viola) had joined the quartet - so had its music, he said.
"So much of the playing in a quartet is based on the chemistry between members, so if members change, the dynamic changes quite a lot, so changes can be quite invigorating for the group.''
Although the group had played a traditional repertoire, it also liked to play less predictable pieces.
"We try to find pieces people overlook.''
As part of that, it recently performed some Renaissance music arranged by Nelson in Washington DC.
"Traditionally, early music for string quartets did not really exist so that is what Maureen did. It was really fun. We all love that music.''
For the concert in Dunedin, the quartet will be playing a piece by Auckland-based composer Alex Taylor commissioned by Chamber Music New Zealand for the Enso tour.
The six-minute piece is one of two works Taylor was commissioned to create for the tour and he says it was a very different experience to write music for musicians he had never met.
"It's been very stimulating to write for a visiting group of the quality of Enso String Quartet. I've listened to some of their recordings online, and they are absolutely immaculate, but play with real energy and musicality.''
The quartet will also be playing Dutilleux's "vision of the night'' and Ginastera's flamboyant String Quartet No 2 alongside works by Haydn, Beethoven and Ravel.
The quartet had programmed Ginastera and Dutilleux because it was the 100th anniversary of both.
"We like to think of putting programmes together as meals - plenty of variety in there to keep things interesting, but also with a good dollop of standard/comfort food - in this case the Haydn and Beethoven fill that role. The Haydn is charming - bubbly and light - and Beethoven's Harp Quartet contains some of the most inspired music ever written,'' he told CMNZ.
The closers, Ravel and Sibelius, are the only serious attempt each composer made at writing a quartet.
Belcher was looking forward to coming home for the tour, having enjoyed a similar series in 2012.
"The wonderful thing last time was that at every concert there was someone from my family or friends there which usually doesn't happen, so its something I'm looking forward to.''
He was also looking forward to showing the two newest members of the quartet his country as they had not been to New Zealand before.
"Living in the US, one of the things I miss about New Zealand is how you can get from one sort of geography to a completely different type so quickly.''
He hoped to be able to take the group on a drive through the central South Island after the concert in Dunedin.
Nelson, who has visited the country before, told Chamber Music New Zealand that she was looking forward to returning. This time her whole family was coming.
"I think this time we'll have a chance to see the albatross colony near Dunedin, spend a night in Lake Tekapo and hopefully see stars. And we'll be able to return to some spectacular sights like Nugget Point and the Waitomo Caves.''
She was also anticipating indulging in some "Kiwi'' treats such as hokey pokey and boysenberry ice cream, whitebait fritters, and again trying the coffee and cheese.
