The NZSO Chamber Orchestra was founded in 1987 from leading players of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. Since then it has established itself as New Zealand’s leading chamber orchestra, an ensemble of the highest quality with a dedication to excellence. It generally performs without a conductor, directed from the first violin chair by Music Director Donald Armstrong. Its size can vary from that of a chamber group up to around 35 players. It is generally made up of strings, with woodwind, brass, and other instruments as the repertoire demands. This small orchestra is generally seated in a semicircle on stage or sometimes the players may stand, the latter being popular with audiences. It has performed with leading world soloists and produced a catalogue of fine CDs. The NZSO Chamber Orchestra has toured throughout New Zealand over the past years, and increasingly abroad. Highlights have included acclaimed performances at EXPO in Seville in 1992, and an engagement by Musica Viva, Australia, as orchestra-in-residence at the prestigious Mittagong Festival, New South Wales, in 1993. The variety of music played ranges from early works such as Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, classical works by Mozart and friends, to romantic music, and contemporary works. On stage, the NZSO Chamber Orchestra can look elegant and sophisticated, or casual and contemporary, as the occasion demands.

Donald Armstrong became Music Director of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra Chamber Orchestra since its beginnings in 1987. His incisive leadership has been a major force in creating the dynamic and exciting style of the NSZO Chamber Orchestra. He has served as Associate Concertmaster of the NZSO since 1987 and appears frequently as a soloist with the NZCO as well as being very much involved with chamber music in New Zealand. Before returning to New Zealand in 1987 he completed a master’s degree at the New England Conservatory in Boston, was principal second violin of the Tivoli Sinfoniorkester in Denmark and Concertmaster of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice in France. He plays a violin by Nicolò Gagliano of 1754.

The Bohemian composer Johann Stamitz, a versatile performer on a number of instruments, is chiefly known for his work with the Mannheim orchestra, which he built into what a later visitor, the English Dr Burney, described as an army of generals. He seems to have joined the musical establishment of the Elector Palatine, whose capital was at Mannheim, in 1741 as a violinist, and by 1750 had become director of instrumental music. The Mannheim orchestra became famous for its discipline, evident in particular in the ‘Mannheim crescendo’, an effective increase in volume and following decrease that became a feature of music written for the orchestra. It had other characteristic traits, too, including the ascending melodic figure known as the ‘Mannheim rocket’.

Orchestral Music
Music by Johann Stamitz includes symphonies and concertos, the former an important step in the development of the Classical form that later came to dominate instrumental music.

Chamber Music
A smaller amount of chamber music by Stamitz includes trios and violin sonatas.