Gareth Farr
About Gareth Farr from Wellington
Gareth Farr (1968) is a New Zealand
composer and percussionist.
He studied composition, orchestration and
electronic music at Auckland University and was a regular
player with the Auckland Philharmonia and the Karlheinz
Company. Further study followed at Victoria University,
Wellington, where he became known for his exciting
compositions, often using the Indonesian gamelan.
He played frequently as a percussionist with the New Zealand
Symphony Orchestra before departing New Zealand to
study composition with Christopher Rouse at the Eastman
School in Rochester, New York, where he graduated Master
of Music.
In 1993, at the age of 25, Gareth became Chamber Music
New Zealand’s youngest composer-in-residence. Since
then, his works have been commissioned and performed
by the NZSO, the Auckland Philharmonia, the Wellington
Sinfonia, the New Zealand String Quartet, and a variety of
other professional ensembles in New Zealand and overseas.
From the Depths Sound the Great Sea Gongs, a commission
from the NZSO to commemorate the orchestra’s 50th
anniversary, was premiered at a Gala Concert in March
1997.
Gareth was commissioned to write a work to celebrate the
opening of Te Papa, the museum of New Zealand, and the
resulting work, combining symphony orchestra with soprano,
tenor and karanga (indigenous New Zealand Maori chant)
was hailed as “music with a powerful and moving impact
that transcends idiom and individual taste”. A recent highlight
was the performance of two of Gareth’s works by the NZSO
at the Sydney Olympics; the percussion concerto Hikoi
which was composed for and performed by the
internationally-renowned Evelyn Glennie, and Wairua, a
unique work combining a Maori kapa haka (performing arts)
group with the full symphony orchestra.
In addition to his music for the concert hall, Gareth has
written music for television and film, most recently for The
Strip, a 20 episode NZ drama series, and Spring Flames,
a short film directed by Aileen O’Sullivan.
Gareth’s music is heavily influenced by his extensive study
of percussion, both Western and non-Western. Rhythmic
and timbral elements of his compositions can be linked to
the complex and exciting rhythms of pacific island log drum
ensembles and the dynamic and colourful sounds of the
Indonesian gamelan.
Five full-length CDs of his music have been released to
date on the Trust Records label - chamber orchestra,
chamber music, string quartets and two orchestral CDs. A
CD single of Te Papa was also released in 1998.
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