Nature sparks a response in humans, often being a driving force for artists, writers and composers.
So it’s fitting that conservationists Forest & Bird should commission works from New Zealand composers inspired by nature to celebrate 100 years of championing Aotearoa’s fauna and flora on land and in water.
Force of Nature was performed by contemporary classical musicians Rob Thorne, NZTrio, Peter Scholes, Bridget Douglas and Yoshiko Tsuruta.
Lighting and projection set the scene across the stage with varying degrees of success. Without a programme it would have been hard to associate some of the compositions with the visuals.
The music did the heavy lifting to transmit emotional stories of endangered and sometimes extinct New Zealand taonga, including moths, birds, whales, bats, eels, forests and rivers.
Rob Thorne, a master of taonga pūoro, opened with his composition around the moth (Te Manawa o Raukatauri), played on the traditional Māori flute, the pūtōrino, sometimes used a lure for birds
He followed with imitations of birdsong long gone or critically endangered, accompanied by NZTrio on Miriama Young’s Place of Echo.
NZTrio paid a passionate homage to braided rivers as Patrick Shepherd’s He Awa Whiria made its way from the Southern Alps to the sea, and Thorne played an albatross bone (kōauau toroa), in Salina Fisher’s Toroa.
Peter Scholes’ Widowmaker (The Falling), was a standout. His exploration of forest life with Thorne, NZTrio, Bridget Douglas on flute and Yoshiko Tsuruta on percussion evoked a lively accessible story.
Alex Alford’s Kaitiaki, played by Douglas, paid tribute to the volunteers who act as guardians for Forest & Bird.
Birds of the Forest (Ngā Manu o te Ngahere) from Andrew Perkins featured Douglas, Scholes and Brown in a joyous and playful exploration of birdsong.
Probably the best was left to last, with Thorne’s flowing story of the albatross and the whale ramping things up for Janet Jennings’ evocative and stirring composition lauding the longfin eel and the long-tailed bat.
Good effort, Forest & Bird, and happy birthday.
