Orchestras Central

20/10/2026

From Salon to Symphony: Dance, Song & Sibelius

Join us for an afternoon of orchestral classics, journeying from elegance to exhilaration!

Saint-Saëns and Tchaikovsky bring dazzling dance and violin virtuosity, Alice Mary Smith’s lyrical clarinet Andante adds warmth, and the concert builds to Sibelius’s Symphony No. 2, a powerful, uplifting finale!

📍 Concert Chamber, Gallagher Academy of Performing Arts
🗓️ Sunday 8 November, 2:30pm
🎟️ Under-18s free
🎫 Ticket link in bio

🎶 Conductor: Simon Brew
🎻 Violin: Indiana Williamson and Nrusingha Rath
🎷 Clarinet: Renee Kenyon

17/09/2026

Rhythm and Splendour 🎻

Hear Waikato’s premier youth orchestra bring rhythm, dance and orchestral power to the stage!

Youth Orchestra Waikato performs under conductors Athena Shiu and Catherine Polglase.

📅 Saturday 26 September, 3pm
📍 Concert Chamber, Gallagher Academy of Performing Arts, University of Waikato
🎟️ Entry by Registration (link in bio)

Come along and support Waikato’s young musicians! 🎶

02/09/2026

Did you attend one of our Central Celebrates events over the weekend?

We’d love to hear about your experience! Tell us how we did and what we could be doing better?

Survey link in bio or scan the QR code.

01/09/2026

A piece that began as a pulse, finally heard in full! 🫀🎻

Bjørn Arntsen’s Viola Concerto took the audience on a journey at Pulse of Life - performed by Robert Ashworth on viola, conducted by Peter Scholes and accompanied by the Central Ensemble.

What began with an email from Bjorn to Robert in 2024 found its way to the stage and finally to its audience. Hear from Robert, Peter, Bjørn, and some members of the wonderful audience as they reflect on their experience.

Ngaa mihi nui to everyone who joined us for Pulse of Life!

28/08/2026

Tonight at 7pm! ❤️

Pulse of Life
Concert Chamber
Gallagher Academy of Performing Arts
University of Waikato

Don't miss out.

Tickets: https://www.eventfinda.co.nz/2026/pulse-of-life/hamilton

The rhythms of the heart are the inspiration behind a new viola concerto work that will get a world premiere in Hamilton on Saturday night.

27/08/2026

One night, five works, and a whole spectrum of sound!

Hear the world premiere of Bjørn Arntsen’s Viola Concerto, alongside Mozart’s Eine kleine Nachtmusik, Caroline Shaw’s Entr’acte, Eve de Castro-Robinson’s hypnotic Whorl for solo bass drum, and Peter Scholes’ Blue Rock — with MC Kate Goldstone, a cardiac specialist and former bassoon player for the APO.

Come along and experience the Pulse of Life concert by Orchestras Central.

29 August | 7pm
Concert Chamber, Gallagher Academy of Performing Arts

It's not too late to grab your tickets! ⬇️

26/08/2026

In an earlier life, Kate Goldstone trained to be a bassoonist... She then changed tack and forged a career in medicine, but music remains a key part of her life.

Kate Goldstone spoke with RNZ Concert about her work, the role the heart plays in emotion, and the how music brings human emotions to the surface.

This Saturday 29 August, Goldstone will MC a concert by the Central Ensemble in Waikato University's Gallagher Academy of Performing Arts.

Listen to the RNZ Concert on the link below and get your tickets to see Pulse of Life at the Gallagher Academy of Performing Arts this Saturday.

Once a bassoonist, now a cardiac anaesthetist, Kate Goldstone is MC for a concert by the Central Ensemble in Hamilton this weekend: Pulse of Life.

25/08/2026

A viola concerto inspired by the human heartbeat. 💓

Bjorn Arntsen's Viola Concerto moves performers through the moods of the heart — cold-hearted, light-hearted, kind-hearted, broken-hearted — letting the score itself guide how they connect with the work.

Conducted by Peter Scholes, with Robert Ashworth on viola, this is a pulsating orchestral experience you won't want to miss.

📍 Concert Chamber, Gallagher Academy of Performing Arts
🗓️ This Saturday, 29 August, 7pm

20/08/2026

A concert inspired by the human heart is coming to Hamilton next Saturday 29 August.

At the centre of the evening is the world first of Bjørn Arntsen's Viola Concerto — a moving new work inspired by the rhythm of the heartbeat itself, performed by soloist Robert Ashworth.

Whether you're a longtime classical music fan or curious to experience something new, this one's worth the trip!

Read more about Pulse of Life in the Waikato Herald, and don't miss this Hamilton premiere. 👇

Bjørn Arntsen’s heart-inspired Viola Concerto leads Pulse of Life.

19/08/2026

In a 20-minute concerto, can music reveal the different states of our heart throughout the day? 🫀🎶

Bjørn Arntsen hopes to take listeners into a heart's journey from resting to galloping, and everything in between.

Experience the world premiere of Bjørn's Viola Concerto on 29 August, 7pm at the Concert Chamber, Gallagher Academy of Performing Arts.

Tickets in bio. 🎟️