PROGRAMME NOTE

‘Meditations on the Waitematā Harbour' was commissioned by the Auckland Philharmonia for their 2025 Orchestral Summer School. The piece is inspired by a summer I spent commuting between Devonport and Auckland city. Early morning and late night ferries were a meditative experience; characterised by little to no people around, a soundscape of Auckland transport beeps and buzzes mingling with the sound of birdsong and waves, and most notably, the ocean. The way city lights, the stars, the moon, and the sun fused and refracted upon the water was a spiritual experience. Whether glass-like or raging, the harbour offered itself to the light in a way I believed only possible in impressionist paintings.