105 musicians from 44 schools around NZ meet for six days of rehearsals.

They rehearsed solidly from 9 till 5pm each day, with the long rehearsals interrupted only by food and table tennis! They were led by Uwe Grodd, originally from Germany, but now Emeritus Professor of the University of Auckland. They performed two concerts at the end of the week and amazingly they played the Mahler Symphony Number 1 in D major (as well as other pieces). This is a very ambitious piece of beautiful music and the conductor did admit afterwards he wondered if they were going to manage it on Day 2! However by Day 6 it all came together and they put on a superb performance. It was a joy to see so many talented young musicians in NZ all working together and enjoying the thrill of playing something so challenging. Such a fantastic experience for them to meet with other students in their field from all around NZ and this year Dunedin had such a good contingent (see photo of Dunedin group including our very own Rose Stevenson, minus the tuba player from LPHS, who was possibly putting his tuba away at the time of the photo!!)