Features

From their 2017 season featuring music brokered by Sergei Diaghilev, Orchestra Wellington plays Stravinsky's 'Petrouchka', as well as Nielsen's Violin Concerto with Suyeon Kang and the première of 'Colour Lines' by Tabea Squire.

A rain shower would be a nice Christmas present for Northland farmers while some in Canterbury are missing out on planting because their soil is too wet. Audio

Nick goes for variety this week, including tunes from Lionel Loueke, Conrad Herwig and Charles Mingus.

A New Zealand company making off-road e-bikes has found markets all over the world since its first prototype was made three years ago.  Audio, Gallery

VIDEO - Christchurch band Yurt Party have people dancing in bars, at parties and literally in the street to their Balkan folk-inspired 'gypsy roots music'. Video, Audio

Inbal Megiddo and Jian Liu give a lively recital of music for cello and piano by composers including Beethoven, Brahms and Rachmanino.

Hannah Rodgers and her son who started the Sending Love campaign, which sent more than 32,000 anonymous Christmas cards to rest homes last year, have set a goal of 100,000 cards for all ages this time around.  Audio

RNZ Music is proud to be the first to share a brand new track from NZ supergroup L.A.B. 'See The Light' is from the band's upcoming second album, L.A.B. II, which is out next Friday.

Check out what's selling like hot cakes this Christmas, with RNZ Concert's Classical Chart.

Opinion - The result of the challenge to Mrs May's leadership was hardly an overwhelming endorsement of her leadership. 200 to 117- In basketball a good win. In Parliament not really. Audio

We asked our listeners to tell us what they reckon are the best songs about leaving. We got hundreds of suggestions and have culled the list down to 20.  Video, Audio

Power Play - Simon Bridges has held on to the National Party leadership as a testing year draws to a close, but how secure is his position?  Video, Audio

Auckland Band, The Beths have been named by U.S. music mag Paste as the best new act of 2018. They join us in studio to perform their recently released Christmas song, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, in which all the sale profits go to the Girl's Rock Camp foundation. Video, Audio

A selection of live music performances from some of NZ's favourite musicians, including Bic Runga, Neil Finn, Tiny Ruins, David Dallas, Ladi6, Dave Dobbyn and the Phoenix Foundation.

Opinion - Understandably, there has been some frustration about the public outpouring of love for Grace compared with the attention we pay Māori, migrant, trans or disabled women killed in this country, Laura O'Connell Rapira writes.

Review - Veteran hip-hoppers Wu-Tang Clan gave an adoring Christchurch crowd exactly what they wanted at the 36 Chambers 25th anniversary show last night. James Dann was there.

It's the Grand Finale of the 2017 Adam Chamber Music Festival in Nelson with music by Brahms, Golijov, Dvorak and Akiho.

From Freddie Mercury to the 'first baby', the Census to Suzy Cato - our search habits reveal the things that made us care, cry and crack up in 2018.

The House - Everything the government wants or does has to be approved by Parliament: spending, laws, regulations. Some regulations can be trialled before full approval - but the government says these need a bit of a power up.  Audio

Nick Bollinger asseses the impact of new love, parenthood and a move to Nashville on the music of Phosphorescent's Matthew Houck. Audio

A slip of the tongue by National Party leader Simon Bridges has become the winner of this year's best quote.

Pacific people who migrated to New Zealand as adults are more resilient to mental health issues than other Pasifika, figures show.

Staving off another independence referendum in New Caledonia is the likely goal of most of the territory's politicians when they meet in France this week.