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The Street Where I Live for tape and piano by Jack Body features the composer's voice (over speakers) talking about his house in Aro Valley, a central Wellington suburb.

Finally Victoria Kelly's Goodnight Kiwi recalls the little flightless bird (NZ's symbol) which, in the early days of NZTV, marked the finish of each night's programmes, as it clambered into the satellite dish; an enduring 'Kiwi' memory.

As performer/commissioner De Pledge decided on the running order, and nine of the twelve composers present were duly applauded. The encore came as no surprise; from Debussy's Préludes, 'The Girl with the Flaxen Hair'.

He began piano studies, aged six, in Greytown (see above). Later, after studying at the University of Auckland, Stephen went on to postgraduate studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (London), with Joan Havill. NZ-born Havill was made Fellow of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (1986) and Senior Professor of the Piano Department in 1996.

A significant body of Stephen's work is with London-based Chamber Domaine; its core configuration, a piano quartet. 'We work with all sorts of extra musicians, during this year's Sweden tour we did concerts with Guildhall-trained lyric tenor Christopher Lemmings', he explains.

Chamber Domaine focuses on chamber music and song from the 18th and 19th centuries. It gives world and UK premières by leading composers -- among them Judith Bingham, Piers Hellawell and Arvo Pärt -- constantly exploring ways of developing audiences and broadening understanding and interest in the genre.

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Copyright © 30 April 2008 Howard Smith, Masterton, New Zealand

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