Upbeat Podcast Options

1:30 PM.The director of the Auckland Writers festival unveils this year's programme for the May event going from strength to strength. Audio

1:00 PM.Wellington Jazz orchestra maestro Rodger Fox teams up with Roy Phillips from the acclaimed 70's group "The Peddlers". Phillips is a renowned raconteur and talks about life since he moved to New… Read more Audio

1:38 PM.Pianist and composer Uri Caine is touring the country, first with the New Zealand String Quartet, then on his own. On the weekend he performed interpretations of Shubert, Beethoven and Bach. Norman… Read more Audio

1:01 PM.Heath Lees is Emeritus Professor of Music at the University of Auckland, and well-known to RNZ Concert listeners for his enlightening and entertaining radio programmes. He's also founder of the Wagner… Read more Audio

1:39 PM.New York pianist and composer Uri Caine is on tour for Chamber Music New Zealand with New Zealand String Quartet. He'll be reimagining the likes of Schubert, Beethoven and Bach, and will be presenting… Read more Audio

1:20 PM.Deirdre Tarant reviews the work of dance visionary Pina Bausch and her company Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch. It's the first time this company has appeared in New Zealand. The company is… Read more Audio

1:01 PM.Claire Scholes reviews the New Zealand premiere of John Adams' Nixon in China by Opera New Zealand with Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra. The opera is part of the Auckland Arts Festival. It features… Read more Audio

1:45 PM.Dione Joseph reviews Changes, the world premiere of two dance works by choreographers Neil Ieremia and Kuik Swee Boon: Change and Constancy choreographed by Kuik Swee Boon and Another letter from… Read more Audio

1:25 PM.Soprano Emma Fraser and Conductor Peter Adams are back working together as part of Opera Otago's 60th anniversary this weekend. Both musicians have a long history with the Dunedin based opera company.

1:00 PM.Tonight at Auckland Arts Festival will be the first time John Adams' opera Nixon in China has been performed here. New Zealand Opera's production features international stars alongside New Zealand's… Read more Audio

1:40 PM.New Zealand composer Gillian Whitehead talks about Britain's preeminent composer Peter Maxwell Davies who has died. Gillian was his student and then friend and talks about helping the composer with… Read more Audio

1:30 PM.Peter Mechen reviews the NZSO programme Relict Furies at New Zealand Festival featuring a new work by Wellington composer Gareth Farr. Audio

1:10 PM.Tobias Jundt and Steven Templar are among the hundreds performing at CubaDupa. We find out what Wellington's answer to Mardi Gras will pan out like this weekend. Audio

1:00 PM.Sophocles' Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex is being reinterpreted by a contemporary South Korean theatre company. Juliette Sivertsen goes behind the scenes to meet those responsible for The Chorus, Oedipus… Read more Audio

1:42 PM.The story of pianist and singer Benjamin Clementine is a classic rags to riches tale about a young man who was so destitute he busked on the streets of Paris for three years before an appearance on a… Read more Audio

1:30 PM.Kirsten Johnstone talks to music promoter Gerry Paul about his new event, the Coastella International Music Festival happening on Easter Saturday on the Kapiti Coast. Kirsten finds out what motivates… Read more Audio

1:10 PM.A lifetime of prose by New Zealand writer James K. Baxter covering over a million words and four hefty hardback books is being released free on the internet by Victoria University. Fergus Barrowman… Read more Audio

1:36 PM.New Zealand tenor Jonathan Abernethy tells us about his exciting debut last week for Opera Australia in a lead role. Jonathan was half through his dinner when the understudy received a call to get… Read more Audio

1:28 PM.Deirdre Tarrant reviews Australian dance company Chunky Move's Complexity of Belonging, running as part of the New Zealand Festival in Wellington Complexity of Belonging is a collaboration between… Read more Audio

1:01 PM.Musicologist Dr Nancy November from the School of Music at the University of Auckland has been awarded a Marsden Fund grant to investigate the social role of chamber music in 1800s Vienna. The grant… Read more Audio

1:40 PM.One of New Zealand's most gifted architects, David Mitchell, has been named as a 2016 Distinguished Alumni by the University of Auckland and will be honoured at a dinner held tonight. He talks about… Read more Audio

1:25 PM.Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis and New Zealand Symphony Orchestra gave their first concert at New Zealand Festival last night before repeating it tonight. Jazz pianist and… Read more Audio

1:01 PM.Dame Kiri Te Kanawa is back in the country performing a six venue recital tour including one concert at New Zealand Festival with Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir. Dame Kiri devotes most of her time… Read more Audio

1:40 PM.Saxophonist Victor Goines and trumpeter Marcus Printup are touring as part of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. They both come from the Deep South with its heritage of jazz and blues and have been… Read more Audio

1:20 PM.Dr. Christy Banks and Dr. Jessica Lindsey join forces to present a multi-media feast for the senses. The visiting clarinetists from the United States are touring as the Spatial Forces Duo, present… Read more Audio