Acclaimed Wellington-based duo Will King (baritone) and Nick Kovacev (piano) present Winterreise, one of the greatest song cycles ever written. Composed by Franz Schubert in the final year of his life, it takes the listener on a moving musical journey, detailing the feelings and thoughts of a young, love-sick man.

An intimate and emotional experience, this song cycle takes the audience on a journey through the snowy wilderness, detailing the love, loss, and eventual broken heart of a young man travelling alone.

Written after Schubert’s diagnosis of syphilis, the music captures all the grace, longing, and horror that only the doomed can truly appreciate. Winterreise is the culminating masterpiece of one of the greatest song writers ever to have lived. The twenty-four songs explore loss, rage, despair, transcendental beauty and sarcastic humour in a rich and detailed musical landscape.

Due to the difficulty and demanding mature of this work, for both voice and piano, it is rarely heard in a concert in New Zealand. We are fortunate to have two musicians who have acquired great insight into this work and will give you a consummate performance of Winterreise – Winter Journey. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear this great song cycle.

About the Performers:

Will King (BMus, Hons)

Will King is a Wellington-based baritone who has fulfilled the requirements for a Master of Musical Arts with Distinction at the NZ School of Music. His operatic roles include the title role in Monteverdi’s L’orfeo, Count Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro, Sam in NZ Opera’s premiere of Gareth Farr’s The Bone Feeder, Lorenzo in Bellini’s I Capuleti e I Montecchi, Zaretsky in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, and Valens in a staged production of Handel’s Theodora.

Later this year, Will will understudy the role of Orpheus in NZ Opera’s 2021 production of Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice.

Will was a 2019 Emerging Artist with NZ Opera and would like to acknowledge the continued support of the Dame Malvina Major Foundation.

Nicholas Kovacev

Nicholas Kovacev is a Serbian-New Zealand pianist from Wellington, who in 2020 completed his Bachelor of Music with Honours at the New Zealand School of Music under Dr Jian Liu and David Barnard.

Upon graduating he was engaged as an Artist teacher and Accompanist at the school, and he is active in performing both solo and collaborative recitals, around the country.

In 2022 he will travel to Berlin for the Dramatic Voices Program (this was originally scheduled for 2020 and disrupted by the pandemic, alongside an internship with the RNZ Ballet).

He hopes to embark on a career as a collaborative pianist, and is particularly passionate about contemporary repertoire and innovative programming.