Chamber music Festival in the Southern Alps
QUEENSTOWN LAKES
4 - 17 OCTOBER 2025
AWE 2025 Festival Artist performance dates:
4 & 5 Oct, Rippon, Wānaka
6 Oct, Te Atamira, Queenstown
9 Oct, Cloudy Bay Shed, Cromwell
10 Oct, Te Atamira, Queenstown
11 Oct, Coronation Hall, Bannockburn
12 Oct, Te Atamira, Queenstown
13-17 Oct, AWE+ in Schools Tour
Full programme, artist and event details for AWE 2025 will be announced on 1 May 2025.
Announcing
AWE 2025
Composer in Residence
John Psathas
We are thrilled that John will join us as this year’s AWE Composer in Residence. New Zealand–Greek composer Ioannis (John) Psathas has a history of large-scale collaborative projects (such as writing for the ceremonies of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, and collaborating with iconic artists such as Salman Rushdie, Michael Brecker, Joshua Redman, Serj Tankian, Oum, and many others). John will be writing a double cello string quintet for premiere within AWE 2025.
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Following three decades of creating works for traditional ensembles (particularly in the world of percussion) the nature of John's work has now shifted into a space of urgent social commentary, combining a range of live performance formats and technologies. Having collaborated in electronica, pop, classical, jazz, and multi-ethnic projects, he is now weaving these strands into new work that integrates virtuosic live performance with video, text, and cinematic soundscapes.
Visit John’s website for more info about this extraordinary composer.
The AWE Composer in Residence Commission is supported by the SOUNZ Centre for New Zealand Music, with funding from the Tarling Trust
Applications now open
AWE 2025 Emerging Artist Programmes
AWE 2025 Emerging Musician Pathway
Delivered through a multi-year programme tailored to each individual, the AWE Emerging Artist Mentoring Pathway aims to grow exceptional young New Zealand musicians through their early careers, guiding and supporting these talented individuals to become the compelling artists they aspire to be.
AWE 2025 Emerging Composer Mentorship
With New Zealand music woven into the very seams of the AWE Festival, each year a young NZ composer is selected to receive personalised mentoring to write a new work for premiere within the festival.
AWE 2024 Emerging Artists Sarah Lee, Tal Amoore and Christine Jeon, along with AWE Festival Artist Alexi Kenney and AWE 2024 Emerging Composer Estella Wallace, accept applause after the premiere of Lonely Peaks for string quqrtet during AWE 2024.
AWE+ in the community
Our community threads into the very fabric of the AWE Festival. Everyone deserves the chance to experience classical music in Aotearoa, to be woven into the adventure and to experience the most intimate moments of music for themselves.
Through AWE+, a range of free curated performances and events are open to the public, showcasing local and international talent so that one and all can hear the story chamber music has to tell.
AWE+ 2025 events will be announced 1 May
What is Chamber Music?
Offering a new level of intimacy to live performance, chamber music is an interaction between individual voices. Written specifically for small groups of musicians, chamber music is designed to be performed, heard, and experienced in a close-knit, intimate setting, with the audience just as much a shared and active part of the experience as the musicians themselves.
