Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra’s (APO) Music Director Giordano Bellincampi will make a welcome return to the podium this month to conduct two concerts in Auckland Town Hall.
Bellincampi has been the Music Director of the APO since the beginning of 2016 and has had an enormous impact on the artistic development of the city’s resident professional orchestra. He is beloved by APO musicians, audiences and donors alike.
CEO Barbara Glaser says, “We are thrilled to be able to have Giordano back in New Zealand to present our upcoming concerts and I’m sure our audiences will be too. His role is vital to the APO. We did a great job staying connected to our audiences during lockdown using digital technology, but we are a live art form and it is not sustainable for Giordano to work remotely.”
The APO is Auckland’s largest performing arts organisation. It makes a significant contribution to the vibrant arts and culture scene for the city and the region as a whole.
In recent months it has been collaborating with other performing arts organisations to engage appropriate locally based artists and deliver a varied programme of events and activities for the remaining 2020 season. This has enabled some of APO’s principal musicians to step into the spotlight taking on the role of soloist which has been well-received by audiences and reviewers. However, the border restrictions do present ongoing challenges for organisations like the APO that rely on touring international artists to deliver continuous and varied high quality experiences for audiences.
Barbara Glaser says, “We believe we have an essential role to play in the reboot of both Auckland’s cultural life and its economy. Since our return to the concert hall in July we have seen several thousand people attend our events, breathing life back into the city. These events not only sustain employment in the arts and entertainment sector but also provide a much-needed boost to Auckland’s restaurants and bars as our audiences take advantage of pre-concert dining and drinks.”
Bellincampi’s return to Auckland is sure to be enthusiastically received by the whole APO whānau – musicians, staff, subscribers, sponsors and donors. He arrived in New Zealand a couple of weeks ago and immediately went into 14 days of managed isolation. He will be reunited with the orchestra to begin rehearsals at the start of next week for the concerts scheduled on 13 and 20 August (details below).
As already announced, some of the content for the APO main series programmes has had to change due to the ongoing impact of Covid-19. Tickets for the APO concerts are on sale through APO and Ticketmaster. Tickets purchased pre-COVID for the scheduled August concerts will still be valid for the new-look performances.