Join the New Zealand String Quartet for an evening of awe-inspiring, boundary-pushing chamber music. For their return to Tauranga, they’ll perform for the first time at Totara Street in Mount Maunganui with a colourful programme of powerful music for string quartet.

Joseph Haydn String Quartet in D Major, Op. 64 No. 5 “The Lark”
Mika Cornelius Universal Veil (world premiere)
Alexander Borodin String Quartet No. 2

Audiences can expect a concert that soars across centuries of musical inspiration. Haydn’s much-loved “Lark” Quartet opens the programme with its elegant, bird-like melodies. It’s followed by a world premiere: emerging New Zealand composer, Mika Cornelius’s Universal Veil draws inspiration from the hidden, interconnected world of fungi, tracing its strange and wondrous lifecycle. Borodin’s lush and heartfelt Second Quartet rounds out the programme; written as a gift to his wife on their 20th wedding anniversary, its romanticism the perfect finale.

Mika Cornelius is the recipient of the 2024/25 NZSQ | SOUNZ Tarling Trust Commission, an award for an early-career New Zealand composer to create a new piece of music for string quartet. The Quartet is thrilled to have had the chance to work with this talented young composer on their piece, Universal Veil, and to be premiering and performing this exciting new work.

Across their 2025 Season, the NZSQ wants to help you discover the joy of chamber music. Whether you're a life-long classical music fan, or simply looking for a memorable night out, this concert is not to be missed.

No need to be an expert
The concert programme, crafted in the NZSQ’s signature style, aims to engage audiences of all levels of familiarity with chamber music. Each piece of music is preceded by a lively and informative introduction delivered by the Quartet members themselves. These introductions seek to shed light on the stories behind the music, making it an enriching experience suitable for all audiences.

This is a supervised show, anyone under the age of 18 years must be accompanied by their parent or legal guardian.