Ross Harris: Lilburn Lecture 2022

Esteemed New Zealand composer and musician Ross Harris, QSM, will traverse his life and musical career, from lecturing with Douglas Lilburn to leading a klezmer band in the annual Lilburn Lecture at the National Library of New Zealand in Wellington.

In his lecture ‘The endless search for the next note: An outline of a composing life from an unlikely beginning to an unlikely present’, Harris will consider his unlikely pathway to a life in music, from brass band to klezmer band and many things in between.

“I came from a family with little interest in music or culture,” says Harris, “from salt of the earth Kiwis.”

His lecture, on Wednesday 2 November at 6pm, will be a self-portrait of a composer finding a way.

Harris is one of New Zealand’s leading contemporary composers, winning many national and international awards for his work. Also a performer, he has played French horn with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, was a founding member of the group Free Radicals, and is a member of the Wellington klezmer group The Kugels. Awarded the QSM in 1985 for his opera Waituhi (libretto by Witi Ihimaera), his compositions now number more than 200. Many of his recent works are collaborations with New Zealand poet Vincent O’Sullivan. In 2014 he was awarded an Arts Foundation Laureate.

“We are delighted to host Ross Harris for the 2022 Lilburn Lecture,” says Dr Michael Brown, Curator of Music at the Alexander Turnbull Library.

“The Lecture theme of how musical opportunities and paths present themselves resonates with the passage of life in our uncertain times. It is also wonderful to have a former colleague of Douglas Lilburn be included in the Lecture series.”

The Lilburn Lecture is an annual collaboration that started in 2013 between the Lilburn Trust, established by composer Douglas Lilburn, and the Alexander Turnbull Library. The lectures provide a platform for speakers to present new ideas about and perspectives on New Zealand music. The lecture is normally held in conjunction with Lilburn’s birthday, 2nd November.

Ends

Background

The Lilburn Trust: The late composer Douglas Lilburn helped establish the Archive of New Zealand Music, which is part of the Library’s collections, in 1974. He donated his own collection of scores, papers and recordings, and served as an honorary curator. Lilburn also established the Lilburn Trust in 1984, which is administered by Alexander Turnbull Library. The Lilburn Trust supports many New Zealand music projects including the annual Lilburn Lecture. The Lecture has been held since 2013: previous speakers have been Karyn Hay, Gillian Whitehead, Eve de Castro-Robinson, Charles Royal, Jenny McLeod, Chris Bourke, William Dart, and Philip Norman.

Douglas Lilburn website
Archive of New Zealand music

Event details

Lilburn Lecture 2022 Ross Harris – The endless search for the next note: An outline of a composing life from an unlikely beginning to an unlikely present

When: Wednesday, 2nd November, 6:00pm

Where: Taiwhanga Kauhau – National Library Auditorium (lower ground floor), Aitken Street entrance, National Library of New Zealand, Wellington

RSVP: This is a free event but space is limited, please book by email: atlcentenary@dia.govt.nz.

The event will be recorded by RNZ Concert for broadcast on Saturday, 12 November at 7pm. After being broadcast it will be available on RNZ’s Lilburn Lecture webpage, along with all the previous talks, Lilburn Lecture (rnz.co.nz). It will also be videoed by SOUNZ and will be available on their website in due course.

Note to editors

Alexander Turnbull Library is part of the National Library of New Zealand. New Zealand's national documentary heritage collections, including both published and unpublished items, are held in the Alexander Turnbull Library.

An image of Ross Harris is attached. Please credit Francesca Brice as photographer.

Media contact

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