Benefit concert to support young artist
This weekend Dunedin pianist and composer Abhinath Berry will perform at Thomas Brown Gallery and Aspiring Lifestyle Village. The benefit concert will include the works of Chopin, Liszt and Ravel and will raise funds for Abhinath to embark overseas for postgraduate study.
He’s a recent graduate of the University of Otago’s School of Performing Arts, having attained a Bachelor of Music with first-class Honours in Performance and Composition. He has been studying with Blair Professor Terence Dennis since 2019 and has received a number of awards and prizes for his music, including most recently been named the winner of Creative New Zealand’s Jack McGill Scholarship.
“I’m particularly close, I feel, to the composer Franz Liszt and I play a lot of his music,” says Abhinath. “I’ve done concerts for the Wagner Society of New Zealand and Liszt’s music is very much in that kind of realm. Liszt often transcribed many overtures from Wagner’s operas – it’s fascinating because you’re bringing the scale of opera down to a piano and Liszt did this so he could promote the operatic works of the young composers of the time. In a way, it was through him that they were able to have an outlet, and it was his generosity that enabled them to become successful composers.”
Born in New Zealand into a literary family, Abhinath didn’t begin playing the until he was 15 and began formal study at 18. Until his studies, he was self-taught and says that consequently he endured a lot of frustration and confusion. From an early age he taught himself music theory and would often write his own music.
“I was inspired to start playing when I was about 15 – just from seeing piano a lot in popular culture and seeing the repertoire we could explore as pianists. I’d say out of all the instruments that it has the largest and most diverse repertoire available, and there’s something for every potential artists, so that really hooked me and I felt the need to explore all of the repertoire. In a way, that was my motivation to start playing, and being 15 as a precocious teenager, you tend to play far beyond your paygrade.”
Abhinath is currently exploring his options for postgraduate study overseas and was last year offered a place and scholarship on the Guildhall School of Music and Drama’s Artist Master’s Piano Performance Programme in London. When he’s not playing piano, he works as a busy secondary school tutor, teaching physics, english, calculous and biology. He hopes to one day also work as a piano tutor.
“I have a very strong interest in pedagogy, which is how we play the piano from a very technical perspective and what we can do to maximise our playing, whether that’s thinking about it physically or mentally. I aim to complete a postgraduate qualification overseas so I can eventually get a good teaching position as well as continue to perform concerts.”
Abhinath has performed around here in the past, working with the Central Otago Regional Choir. He’s really looking forward to returning and performing.
“I was really pleased to see how much the audience seemed to appreciate the music, and how attentive and enthusiastic they are in that part of New Zealand. I feel like they’re greatly appreciative, and it always makes the performer happy to see others responding to their music.”
Abhinath will perform at Aspiring Lifestyle Village at 2:30 on Saturday and at Thomas Brown Gallery at 2:30 on Sunday. Tickets are available on Eventfinda with limited door sales and Queenstown tickets available at Lakes District Museum.
