Harpist Helen Webby and violinist Cathy Irons return to Te Anau today (7 October), to perform their chamber music concert at the Southminster Abbey, Te Anau Lodge. 

Webby and Irons successfully toured South Island as a duo in 2021 with many requests to return, and are delighted to be joined this year by Paul Lee, a recent graduate from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, to create the Nikau Harp Trio. All three are members of the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, with extensive NZ and international experience.

The ensemble is named after the intricately engraved nikau palm on Helen's harp, made by her brother, Kim Webby. On the soundboard, a huia is painted in gold. 

The Te Anau concert is part of the trio’s whirlwind tour of the South under the auspices of AOTNZ Art on Tour with an intensive schedule of travel and performances every day between 3-9 October, visiting Dunedin, Gore, Invercargill, Riverton, Te Anau, Alexandra and Lake Hayes.

Concert organiser, Cathy Irons is looking forward to her Te Anau visit.

“I am very excited to be coming back to the gorgeous Southminster Abbey in Te Anau again, this time with a trio - harp, violin and cello. I think this is my favourite combination of strings ever - it's beautiful to watch and an incredible sound.

Our special guest artist, Mark Oremland from Te Anau Lodge, who is a fabulous viola player will join us for a Haydn Trio”, she says. 

The programme features a baroque trio by Bach, the Passacaglia duo by Handel-Halvorsen, a romance piece by the French composer and harpist Henriette Renié, Webby's own arrangement of Debussy's timeless Claire de Lune, Irons' Dreamland, Haydn trio for strings, and Astor Piazzolla's Argentina tango.

Nikau Harp Trio will perform at:

The Southminster Abbey, Aparima Drive, Te Anau on Friday, 7 October at 7pm 

Tickets: $25 adult, $20 senior, $15 child