Music composed for harp, violin and cello is extraordinary and beautiful – the plucked harp strings are vibrant and brilliant, whilst the bowed violin and cello strings are sustained and sonorous.
Named after the magnificent carved palm on Helen’s harp with its golden huia bird on the soundboard, Nikau Harp Trio bring to life the glittering magical world of harp with strings.
Nikau’s program opens with joyful Baroque trio by George Frideric Handel, to the world of French romance by the little known woman composer and harpist Henriette Renié, followed by her compatriot Jaques Ibert and his sparkling witty Trio, written in 1943.
Pop your effervescent drink of choice for the second half, and enjoy Mozart’s Blue Rondo, Fandangos & Swing by Cole Porter, Gershwin et al, the hypnotic haze of Irons’ Dreamland, Nikau’s own arrangement of Debussy’s timeless Clair de Lune, to arrive at pulsating Tango of Piazzolla’s Argentina.
