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In the 2026 Lilburn Lecture, Dr Peter Walls ONZM, orchestra and choir conductor, music administrator and musicologist, will talk about his encounters with composers, from performing their works at secondary school to recent years as a conductor.Peter Walls and working with composers
The Lilburn Trust, in association with the Alexander Turnbull Library, invites you to the 2026 Lilburn Lecture. This year, Peter Walls talks about working with composers as a performer, university colleague and an arts administrator.
Organised around a series of ‘snapshots’ of particular works, the lecture will reflect on factors that encourage repeat performances, optimal ways of programming New Zealand composition for audiences here in Aotearoa and strategies for encouraging a broader appreciation of New Zealand music internationally.
The loose chronology of this lecture emerges from Peter Walls’s encounters with composers from performing in Dorothea Franchi’s Young Patrick at secondary school through to working with Dame Gillian Whitehead on her Journey of the Mataatua Whare in 2025.
Focusing primarily on orchestral music, the lecture has sections on Douglas Lilburn, David Farquhar, John Psathas, poetic partnerships with Margaret Mahy and Philip Norman; Vincent O’Sullivan and Ross Harris; Bill Manhire and Norman Meehan; Gareth Farr and Eve de Castro-Robinson. A final section suggests ways of ensuring that New Zealanders and music lovers abroad know and love our music.
Refreshments will be served following the Lecture.
RSVP required
Seats are limited, so book your seat now by emailing [email protected]
The Lilburn Lecture series
The annual Lilburn Lectures are a collaboration between the Lilburn Trust and the Alexander Turnbull Library. This year’s Lilburn Lecture will be the thirteenth in this series of open public talks.
The Lilburn Trust
In 1974, the composer Douglas Lilburn helped establish the Archive of New Zealand Music, which is part of the Turnbull Library’s collections. He donated his own collection of scores, papers and recordings, and served as an honorary curator. Lilburn also established the Lilburn Trust in 1984, which is administered by Alexander Turnbull Library. The Lilburn Trust supports many New Zealand music projects including the annual Lilburn Lecture.
The Lecture has been held since 2013. Previous speakers have been Don McGlashan, Elizabeth Kerr, Nick Bollinger, Ross Harris, Karyn Hay, Gillian Whitehead, Eve de Castro-Robinson, Charles Royal, Jenny McLeod, Chris Bourke, William Dart and Philip Norman.
Lilburn Trust: https://natlib.govt.nz/about-us/scholarships-and-awards/lilburn-trust
About the speaker
Peter Walls is an orchestral and choral conductor, arts administrator and a musicologist.
Peter has been Chief Executive of Chamber Music New Zealand (2015-2018) and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (2002-2011). He taught in the School of Music at Victoria University from 1978 until 2002, serving as Head of School from 1987-1988 and 1994-1999, being appointed Professor of Music in 1993.
In 1998, he was awarded a citation by the Lilburn Trust for his “outstanding contributions to New Zealand music” before being appointed to the Music Advisory Committee for the Lilburn Trust, serving 1998–2025. He was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to music in the 2012 New Year’s Honours.
Image: Photo by Darcy Woods
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Event venue
Corner Molesworth and Aitken Streets, Thorndon, Wellington, New Zealand 6011, New Zealand
Tickets
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