On holiday

Following a successful and enjoyable tour to the New Zealand towns of Gore, Roxburgh, Wanaka, Te Awamutu, Rotorua, Taihape and Motueka for Chamber Music New Zealand, and some self-organized concerts in Auckland and Wellington, the Tasman String Quartet members are spending a few days apart in New Zealand (this almost never happens--we were even playing our instruments together on Christmas Day!). We thought it would be fun to share a few of the photos we took while we were on the road. This one features Anna, Miranda and James warming up in the smallest warm-up room in the world! Or at least the smallest one we've ever seen. It was the vestry of St. James' Anglican Church in Roxburgh, a beautiful nineteenth-century church where we played for a wonderful audience, who gave us our first ever standing ovation in New Zealand! (We got another one in Wellington--lucky us!)

This next picture was taken in Taupo, where we spent a couple of days rehearsing in between our Rotorua and Taihape concerts. (You can't see the spectacular views outside the window, but there were some!) We really relished the opportunity to see quite a lot of our country from out the windows of a series of rental cars and a borrowed van. One forgets how incredibly spectacular it is almost everywhere in New Zealand. This was definitely a tour to remember!