Christchurch Symphony Orchestra

• Concert
• Music
• Family-friendly

Landing at a different Christchurch or Selwyn library every time, Music Trails are fun-filled 45-minute performances by various CSO ensembles designed especially for children aged 2-6.

• Music
• Drama
• Family-friendly

Narrated by Juanita Hepi and conducted by David Kay, Prokofiev's symphonic fairy-tale stars a plucky boy called Peter and a cast all played by different instruments. This is the perfect way to introduce the younger members of the family to live music. There are two performances in te reo Māori and English.

• Concert
• Music
• Contemporary

Multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Will McGillivray presents an evening of contemporary pop from his recently launched solo collection.

• Concert
• Music
• Jazz

The Ron Ball Studio is the perfect setting for an evening of cool jazz from local aficionado Tom Rainey.

• Concert
• Music
• Contemporary

Renowned folk artists Helen Webby (Celtic Harp) and Davy Stuart (Guitar and Bouzouki) perform a selection of traditional music of Ireland, Scotland, New Zealand, and from around the globe.

• Concert
• Family-friendly

Join Tianyi Lu, winner of the prestigious 2020 Sir Georg Solti International Conductors' Competition, and the CSO in a festive musical celebration bursting with a joyful selection of sparkling delights, seasonal orchestra favourites, and popular yuletide carols.

• Concert
• Family-friendly

It is that time of year again where you dig out your red, white and blue, find your union jack, pack your streamers and make your way to the Town Hall for the orchestra's annual tribute to the great British tradition of Last Night of the Proms.

• Concert
• Comedy
• Family-friendly
• Musical Theatre

Little Red Riding Hood, from Roald Dahl's wicked Revolting Rhymes, is brought to life in this sparkling musical adaptation by composer Paul Patterson.

• Concert
• Dance
• Music
• Classical
• Contemporary
• Family-friendly

German-born British composer Max Richter takes us on a journey through his re-imagined landscape of Vivaldi's pictorial masterpiece The Four Seasons.
Fascinated by Vivaldi's ground-breaking Four Seasons, Richter's 'recomposition' has now topped the classical charts in 22 countries.
Dancers from mixed-ability dance company Jolt weave together with the orchestra to create a highly evocative and memorable performance.

• Concert
• Music
• Classical
• Family-friendly

At the age of 22, Mozart had arrived in Paris, eager to impress. His 31st symphony did just that with its radical use of the orchestra, brilliant writing and breathtaking finale. The Parisian audiences clearly loved it and Mozart commented to his father that, at the premiere, not only did they applaud between movements to try and encourage encores, but during movements as well.

• Concert
• Music
• Classical

Visiting Florence's Uffizzi Gallery, Respighi found inspiration in three paintings by Renaissance artist Sandro Botticelli: La Primavera (Spring), L'Adorazione dei Magi (The Adoration of the Magi), and La nascita di Venere (The Birth of Venus). Opening with the exuberant depiction of spring, Respighi incorporates elements of renaissance dance tunes and latin plainchant alongside his trademark sumptuous orchestration.

• Concert
• Classical
• Family-friendly

Ross Harris' Fanitullen was partly inspired by Scandinavian folk-fiddle playing and Stravinsky's Soldier's Tale. It is said that 'fanitullen' (the devil's tune) was first played by the devil himself who appeared, hooves and all, at a village dance. he grabbed the fiddle and began playing a tune so wonderful that the gathered people continued dancing until they died from exhaustion.

• Concert
• Music
• Classical
• Family-friendly

The final concert of the Lamb & Hayward Masterworks Series opens with Samuel Barber's glittering Overture to The School for Scandal. Best known for his Adagio for Strings, this early work is a bright and lively overture filled with charm and lyricism.

• Concert
• Classical
• Contemporary
• Family-friendly
• Jazz
• Latin
• Musical Theatre

Leonard Bernstein's MASS was inspired by the Catholic Mass and commissioned for the inauguration of the Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

• Music
• Classical
• Family-friendly

Based on his Oscar-winning score for Ang Lee's film, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Tan Dun's Crouching Tiger Concerto was originally written for and premiered by Yo-Yo Ma.

• Concert
• Music
• Family-friendly

The ballet Swan Lake quickly became regarded as one of the great works in the repertoire. So popular did the music prove to be that Tchaikovsky created a stand-alone concert suite that continues to be admired and loved by audiences today. Glinka's exuberant and heroic Overture to Ruslan and Ludmilla opens this programme celebrating the mastery of two of the great Russian Romantic composers.