Upbeat Podcast Options

1:00 PM.Doryun Chong is in New Zealand to be part of the judging panel for contemporary art award; the Walters Prize, and was previously Associate Curator of Painting and Sculpture at New York’s Museum of… Read more Audio

1:40 PM.One of the world’s most popular funk bands Tower of Power, a staple of Californian soul-funk, is about to bring their revue to Auckland.

They’ve been 48 years on the road and the ever changing band… Read more Audio

1:20 PM.The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo is the famous display of military bands on the esplanade of Edinburgh Castle, that hundreds of thousands of people see come to see every year. In 2016 Charlotte… Read more Audio

1:00 PM.As part of Arts Festival Dunedin The Dunedin Symphony Orchestra is performing a brand new oratorio by Anthony Ritchie called Gallipoli to the Somme, marking the centenary of the battle of the Somme… Read more Audio

1:40 PM.NZTrio have been up to a lot recently. You might have caught their recent Chinese-inspired concerts in Wellington and Auckland with celebrated guzheng player Xia Jing: they’ve got performances at the… Read more Audio

1:20 PM.The various strands of The University of Auckland’s School of Music are coming together to present Cloudburst, a programme that incorporates music from Duke Ellington, Eric Whitacre, Debussy, and… Read more Audio

1:00 PM.NZ Opera’s production of Sweeney Todd which is on at the moment. The story was originally published as a penny dreadful in 1846 that morphed over the years into a play and then the Broadway show, that… Read more Audio

1:40 PM.There Are No More Four Seasons! That’s the name of a visionary Swedish duo touring New Zealand. Mattias Petersson and George Kentros make amazing music while recomposing the classics.

There Are No… Read more Audio

1:20 PM.Tony Kushner’s Tony winner Angels in America is considered a classic of American theatre, a two part epic clashing together themes of religion, politics, and sexuality. Kushner went on to pen the… Read more Audio

1:00 PM.Klezmer band The Kugels are composer and virtuoso accordion player Ross Harris, leader of Saxcess Debbie Rawson, fiddler and former NZSOer Robin Perkins, and bass player Jaqueline Norden. They all… Read more Audio

1:40 PM.Jake Baxendale has been spending some time away from New Zealand recently. Jake’s the alto saxophonist for jazz groups The Jac, JB3, and Richter City Rebels, and he received an Edwin Carr scholarship… Read more Audio

1:20 PM.The World of Wearable Arts’ Supreme Award, as well as the Avant Garde Award, has gone to Gillian Saunders from Nelson. She first entered the WOW in 2002 and has entered almost every year since… Read more Audio, Gallery

1:00 PM.Christchurch’s season of chamber music, Christopher’s Classics, begins with a concert from the Amici Ensemble playing string sextets by Tchaikovsky and Brahms as well as a new commission from Anthony… Read more Audio

1:40 PM.The Auckland Live International Cabaret Season is about to begin its third year featuring a suite of critically-acclaimed cabaret shows from across the globe and closer to home. The Basement theatre… Read more Audio

1:20 PM.Sydney-based Julie Foa’i has been the manager of South Pacific Fusion group Te Vaka since it began. The now-Australia based group has had global success, which looks to be expanded on with them being… Read more Audio

1:00 PM.Prolific and highly regarded and awarded New Zealand-born pianist Mike Nock is about to return to New Zealand. The Mike Nock Trio and NZ Trio work have developed, Vicissitudes which they premiered at… Read more Audio, Gallery

1:40 PM.New Zealand soprano Lisette Wesseling, passed away peacefully last week at the age of 44. Lisette, who was blind from infancy, was a leading advocate for blind people and their access to music… Read more Audio

1:20 PM.Dimitrios Theodoridis is home from Germany for a very personal concert with Baroque Voices. Passage of the Soul | Choral Whispers of Eastern Orthodoxy will be performed in memory of his mother who… Read more Video, Audio

2016’s Arts Festival Dunedin includes a broad range of musical performances, from Eastern European cabaret to the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra.

Sitting somewhere between are performances featuring… Read more Audio

1:40 PM.Tauranga’s first youth orchestra in over 20 years is gearing up into existence. Bay of Plenty Symphonia musical director Justus Rozemond is also about to direct Youth Philharmonic Tauranga. The… Read more Audio

1:20 PM.Auckland’s Tempo Dance Festival gets underway in a couple of weeks. Carrie Rae Cunningham is the Artistic Director and takes us through the varied festival lineup. The Scenic View is Tempo’s quirky… Read more Audio

1:00 PM.Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra has launched its programme for 2017. Chief Executive Barbara Glaser and Ronan Tigue, Director of Artistic Planning discuss their personal highlights, new initiatives… Read more Audio

1:40 PM.Zoë George talks to Saturday Morning with Kim Hill producer Mark Cubey about how interviewees should approach being talked to by the media. What do you need to know? Should you be nervous? How should… Read more Audio

1:20 PM.Peter Mechen reviews Chamber Music New Zealand’s mini-festival QuintEssence. The programme features performances from The New Zealand String Quartet, Grammy-nominated violist James Dunham, The Pettman… Read more Audio

1:00 PM.Chris Booth is a sculptor and environmental artist who creates work for communities. The works are always site-specific and culturally-sensitive installations of stone and natural materials based on… Read more Video, Audio, Gallery