It was announced today that Peter Walls and Rosemary Barrington have been elected by the Court of Convocation (the community of graduates) to the Council of Victoria University of Wellington. Rosemary has been a member of Council since 1999 and is a former Chancellor of the University. This will be Peter’s first term on Council. He comments, “I welcome this opportunity to assist Victoria in maintaining the highest standards of tertiary education. I would like to thank very warmly all of those who supported me in this election.”

Peter will conduct two performances with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra on 9 October in Wellington’s Michael Fowler Centre. The concert, made up of six relatively short pieces, will include Mozart’s Il Seraglio Overture, the Ball movement from Berlioz’ Symphonie Fantastique and the Liebestod from Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde. Peter will introduce each of the works (with illustrations from the orchestra) – a formula that proved immensely popular with audiences in 2011. Peter comments: “This is a playlist programme – six absolutely wonderful pieces of music that should excite newcomers to symphonic concerts as well as those who already know that experiencing the Liebestod live is an experience not to be missed.” All the pieces to be performed are drawn from the NZSO’s 2013 season. The concerts are at 12.30  pm and 6.30 pm. They are free but ticketed. (Tickets are available from Ticketek.)