DAWN

Presented by Bayleys

Conductor Tianyi Lu
Cirque Performers The Dust Palace
Artistic Director Mike Edward 

After sell-out show Midnight in 2017, the APO is collaborating again with The Dust Palace, Auckland’s leading Circus Theatre company. 

In an enchanted realm a young warrior searches for her father before the darkness consumes him. Fighting back the shadows, she is pushed to the limits of her bravery. In the darkest hour, we all fear the morning might not arrive...

While our hero searches in the darkness, encountering magical creatures and a dazzling display of cirque artistry, the orchestra sets the scene. From the subtle drama of Handel’s beautiful Sarabande, to Respighi’s quirky portrait of ‘The Nightingale’ and meeting the new day with the most famous sunrise ever set to music, Grieg’s shimmering ‘Morning Mood’ from Peer Gynt.

“A true ballet in the sky.”

– Theatrescenes

About the Conductor

Tianyi Lu is making a name for herself across the continents as Assistant Conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, a Dudamel Fellow with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and Principal Conductor of the St. Woolos Sinfonia in the UK. This international outset of her career includes collaborations with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, just recently including a programme with Dvořáks Symphony No.9, and also with the Hallé Orchestra, Dallas Opera Orchestra, Welsh National Youth Opera, Royal Welsh College of Music Symphony Orchestra, Bristol Metropolitan Orchestra and the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra.

Lu’s repertoire interests include late romantic (Mahler, Bruckner, Strauss), Russian composers (Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Stravinsky) as well as finding new interpretations of the Germanic canon (Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms). Her experience in opera is building, especially in French and Italian repertoire. Her broad musical interests and her passion for contemporary music led to her studying electronic music composition as well as to studies in baroque flute, viola da gamba and harpsichord. She has been involved in the Sistema Aotearoa programme in New Zealand, inspired by the Venezuelan model, and she is strongly committed to education and outreach projects.

Born in Shanghai, Lu’s family subsequently moved to New Zealand. She completed her Bachelor of Music with First Class Honours at the University of Auckland with Uwe Grodd and Karen Grylls, before studying at the University of Melbourne with John Hopkins. In 2015 Lu completed her Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting with Distinction at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, where she studied with David Jones