Carnival of the Animals

Join us for a series of showstopping piano performances!

This FREE concert series features our 2025 Haydn Staples Piano Scholars as they perform riveting works for solo, duo, and trio in the heart of the city.

Saint-Saëns’ much-loved Carnival of the Animals is a humorous suite of fourteen pieces. This musical menagerie is packed with majestic lions, braying donkeys, stately elephants, bouncing kangaroos, a serene swan and an aquarium of glimmering fish.

The Haydn Staples Piano Scholarship Programme is run in conjunction with the University of Auckland’s School of Music and made possible by the generous support of the Staples Education Foundation. The programme supports three scholars each year by providing them with performance opportunities and a diverse range of skills that complement their advanced solo studies.