Featured Music Stories
Music Alive: Symphonic Dances
New Zealand's great pianist Michael Houstoun joins Orchestra Wellington to perform a piece dedicated to him by composer John Psathas. You will also hear wonderful pieces by Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff.
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New Horizons: Esperanza's Healing Seas
28 Nov 2021Esperanza Spalding's new album, Songwrights Apothecary Lab offers musical healing to those of us worn down by the lives that we live. William Dart looks at how it fits into the music that she's been making for just over a decade. Audio
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Hymns on Sunday, 28 November 2021
28 Nov 2021Plenty of Advent hymns today to mark the first Sunday in this season of the liturgical year. It’s a time of waiting and expectation leading up to Christmas. Audio
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Inside Out with Nick Tipping
27 Nov 2021Nick checks out classics from Charles Mingus and Cannonball Adderley, a recent re-release from Kiwi singer Jennine Bailey, and a fresh take on a Leonard Cohen standard. Audio
RNZ Concert
RNZ Concert is New Zealand’s fine music network. Concert promotes New Zealand music and composition and features live broadcasts of concerts and recitals, as well as international content from other public radio broadcasters, podcasts, and on-demand programmes.
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Christchurch Boys' Choir: Stronger Together
1 Dec 2021'Stronger Together' is the title of the choir's next concert and also the reason they have not one, but three Musical Directors. Audio
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New in Podcast Classics
Your free classical podcast this month is Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune by Claude Debussy, played by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra conducted by Hamish McKeich. Audio
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A tribute to Stephen Sondheim
1 minute agoNZ Opera's Head of Music Mark Dorrell pays tribute to his musical idol, the late Stephen Sondheim.
Featured Music Programmes
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Music Alive: Orchestra Wellington - Symphonic Dances
29 Nov 2021New Zealand's great pianist Michael Houstoun joins Orchestra Wellington to perform a piece dedicated to him by composer John Psathas. You will also hear…
Coming up
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NZSO: Song of Destiny live concert
27 Nov 2021A concert of hope, drama and triumph featuring Verdi, Brahms and Dvořák. James Judd Conducts the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and Voices New Zealand Choir.
Coming up
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NZSO: Ngū Kīoro…Harikoa Ake - Celebrating Togetherness
17 Nov 2021Today, as we celebrate 100 years of radio in this country we present a jubilant concert from 2020 that sums up the spirit, diversity and uniqueness of Aotearoa… Video
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Auckland Arts Festival: Pūmanawa - Ngā Tūmanako
6 Nov 2021Kapa haka group Ngā Tūmanako performs at the Auckland Arts Festival's 'Pūmanawa', Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre, 21 March 2021. Audio
Recent Music Stories
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Music 101: Charlotte Ryan
3 Dec 2021Charlotte Ryan, host of Music 101, talks about what's happening on the music scene over the weekend, and picks a track to play. Audio
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Music reviewer Grant Smithies
3 Dec 2021A crucial double LP compilation of jazz/ funk/ reggae tracks by Jamaican "keyboard king" Jackie Mittoo has just been reissued. We'll hear two tracks from that today, alongside cuts from London… Audio
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RNZ Music Pocket Edition #352: Dave Gahan, French for Rabbits
2 Dec 2021In this week's Pocket Edition with Yadana Saw, Dave Gahan, Depeche Mode's lead singer speaks about his new covers album, French for Rabbits' Brooke Singer explains what it's like to put out a record… Audio
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Rhythm and Vines moves to Easter after hearing from local iwi
Rhythm and Vines festival director Kieran Spillane told Checkpoint they decided to postpone the event to Easter after talking with local iwi and listening to the concerns of the local community.
With… Video, Audio
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Music Critic: Simon Sweetman
2 Dec 2021Simon reviews new music from Brian Wilson and Demian Dorelli. Audio
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Scientists rap on vaccine in collab with politicians
2 Dec 2021Scientists have taken on a whole new field to spread the message on Covid-19 vaccinations and clear up misinformation. Video, Audio
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Covid-19: 'Nerdcore' vaccination rap released
2 Dec 2021If you're sick of Christmas music already, here's a new track to keep you... entertained?
'Vax the Nation' by Dr Joel Rindelaub and Randa is a new "nerdcore" rap song.
It features cameos from some… Audio
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Bookmarks with Harkanwal Singh
The Spinoff's head of data Harkanwal Singh joins us for Bookmarks to share some of his favourite things. Audio
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Music with RNZ's Yadana Saw
1 Dec 2021It's heading toward that time of the year, so RNZ Music correspondent Yadana Saw takes a look back on some of the year's best tracks. Audio
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RNZ launches new platform for rangatahi
1 Dec 2021RNZ has this morning unveiled a new digital platform for rangatahi, sharing the music, stories and culture of Aotearoa. Video
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Music is a “good addiction” which can displace teenage anxieties
1 Dec 2021AUT Radio Student Aimee Way discovers in songwriting a pathway out of the anxieties which affected her teenage years. Audio
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Is it possible to get better at singing? Tabitha Huxford thinks so
1 Dec 2021A documentary by AUT Radio student Tabitha Huxford about undertaking training as a singer Audio
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Song lyrics with Claire Mabey - Part 2
30 Nov 2021Verb Wellington festival director Claire Mabey returns to do some deep lyrical analysis of some of our favourite tunes! Audio
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Music festivals in doubt: 'What are those kids going to do?'
The brakes could be on major summer festivals after the government revealed red lights for their regions in the new traffic light system. Audio
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Hip Hop in Aotearoa
29 Nov 2021We continute our journey through hip hip in Aotearoa with Brad Warrington. Tonight we're still in the mid 2000s. Audio
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Te Aitanga a Mahaki urges Rhythm n Vines to cancel
The Rhythm and Vines festival has hit a sour note with local iwi who are calling for the festival to be canned due to Covid concerns.
The festival, that usually kicks off on the 28 December is… Video, Audio
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Iwi say no to Rhythm & Vines over Covid-19 risk within Tairāwhiti
29 Nov 2021Tairāwhiti iwi have urged Rhythm and Vines owners and management to cancel this year's festival over concerns it could cause a Covid-19 outbreak in the region.
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A tribute to Stephen Sondheim
29 Nov 2021NZ Opera's Head of Music Mark Dorrell pays tribute to his musical idol, the late Stephen Sondheim.
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Norsewood's The Old Dairy Factory
29 Nov 2021"We're there for the music," says pianist and composer David Selfe, proprietor of The Old Dairy Factory concert venue and recording studio in Norsewood. Audio
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Muroki -on moving to Auckand, lessons learnt on tour and more
Two weeks after moving up from Raglan to Auckland to get busier with his music, Muroki speaks to Kadambari Raghukumar in this episode, about his journey so far as a musician. Audio
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My Current Song: Jackie B and The Mini Band, It's Christmas
28 Nov 2021Kiwi country singer-songwriter Jackie Bristow is normally based in Nashville but she has been back in New Zealand since the first lockdown in 2020. With Covid putting a halt to her touring schedule… Audio
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Nashville Babylon 27 November 2021
27 Nov 2021On this week's Nashville Babylon Mark has new music from the Delines and Charlie Parr, classic ska and reggae courtesy of the Mellow Cats and the Heptones plus a birthday tune for Randy Newman. Audio
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Alan Broadbent & the Cricketer's Arms
27 Nov 2021Nick checks out jazz from US-based NZ pianist Alan Broadbent, and Christchurch sax player Michael Gordon's Cricketer's Arms Big Band, based in a pub in Sydney. Audio
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The Mixtape - Chris Graham
27 Nov 2021Charlotte Ryan talks to Chris Graham the director of the brilliant new NZ Hip Hop Stand Up video series. He joins us for The Mixtape to talk about the series and goes deep about Scribe and his new… Audio
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