Mozart began 1791, some 230 years ago, it is hard to comprehend that at 35 years old, this particular year would be his last. Despite this, it would turn out to be an enormous year for composition and this concert highlights some of those key works.

Commencing with the overture to the Magic Flute K. 620, this magical work, evokes the wonderment of the opera, interwoven with subtle Masonic references, of which, Mozart knew intimately. This will be followed by the concert aria Ch’io scordi di te K. 505 - featuring recent NZSM graduate, soprano, Michaela Cadwgan. A crystalline, beautiful and seldom-heard work, written for Nancy Storace’s farewell concert in 1787. The concert will conclude with Mozart’s last and most introspective piano concerto, No. 27. K. 595. The concert will be directed from the keyboard, as Mozart often did, by David Barnard with the NZSM Orchestra.

Michaela Cadwgan is a Wellington based soprano, who recently completed BMus(Hons) with First Class Honours under the tutelage of Dr. Margaret Medlyn, Wade Kernot and Dr. Jenny Wollerman, alongside completing a BA in German and Italian at Victoria University of Wellington.  Michaela regularly takes part in performances, concerts and competitions throughout New Zealand. In 2019 she performed as the title role of Suor Angelica in the NZSM Puccini double bill, and was selected as a finalist in both the Wellington Regional Dame Malvina Major Aria Competition, and New Zealand Aria where she performed with Maestro Giordano Bellincampi and the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra. Last year Michaela was the soprano soloist for the Kapiti Concert Orchestra (Light Summer Classics), New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO at Te Papa), as well as Resonance, a Karori based choir. Most recently she performed as the soprano soloist in Dvořák's Stabat Mater with the Bach Choir of Wellington directed by Shawn Michael Condon.