Sunday 23 July, 6pm
Tickets: $45
Fundraising concert for Geoff Hill’s upcoming departure to the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan
Joined by Chamber Trio “Chicken Sandwich” and Jazz Combo “Big Mak”
In its ongoing commitment to support and provide opportunities for live performance, Pah Homestead is proud to present the Sunday Concert Series 2023 - an eclectic array of musicians and musical genres showcasing local performers.
Music has followed me around pretty much every where I go; I cannot remember my life without it. When I was four years old, my grandmother bought me a piano, and it was all downhill (or uphill!) from there.
-Geoff Hill
As a classical pianist, Geoff Hill has won first prize at the 2021 and 2022 North Shore Performing Arts Society and 2020 IRMT Auckland Branch competitions and won third prize at the Asia Pacific Solo Music Competition 2020. His trio was a National Gold Medal finalist in the 2021 Chamber Music New Zealand Schools Chamber Contest. Geoff was named the best keyboardist at the 2022 National Youth Jazz Competition and his jazz combo, BigMak, was awarded gold in 2022 and 2023.
At the end of August, Geoff departs New Zealand to study for a 'post graduate year' at the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan. This is the premiere arts school for teenagers in the states — and Geoff’s father was once a student there also at Geoff’s age. Join us for his upcoming concert at Pah Homestead in a fundraising effort for his international studies.
Geoff’s musical tastes are broad-ranging and not confined to the classical genre, with Radiohead and Kendrick Lamar being among his favourite artists. He is drawn to the timbre of works by Ravel and Steve Reich, and his compositional approach is influenced by that of early 20th-century composers such as Copland and Prokofiev.
ABOUT GEOFF HILL
“Growing up, I've always had music inside my house, with my mum being the Chief Executive of the Michael Hill International Violin Competition as well as a former cellist, and my dad being the Principal Double Bass of the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra. I started formal piano lessons with Tatiana Lanchtikova at age 7, and slowly began to develop an increasing interest in what it was I was playing.”
“Fast forward to 2023, where I've been studying with Stephen De Pledge for several years and in my final year of high school, I am heavily involved in the music program of Westlake Boys High School. Having branched out into other forms of music beyond the piano, I play percussion in my school's Concert Band and Symphony Orchestra, sing in both Voicemale (all boys choir) and Choralation (mixed choir) and am the pianist for the Westlake Big Band. I've composed a work for solo piano and concert band being premiered by Westlake. On top of my school commitments, I lead a jazz combo, a classical chamber trio, and still give an intense amount of time and effort into my solo piano repertoire. In short, the music that I experience from every facet of my life means the world to me, and I connect with it in a way that I never have with anything else.”