Within the realm of concert music, Coroiu (2022) noted that “[t]he instrumental concerto remains one of the most appreciated genres – by the general audience as well as by virtuoso interpreters…” (p. 49). It seems that there is something intrinsically attractive about pitting a star soloist against the power of a full orchestra. Indeed, among New Zealand’s National Orchestra’s seventeen concert programmes of 2025, ten contain a concertante work.
Most New Zealand piano concertos, however, have not received repeat performances despite being one of the strongest bodies of works from this country – two of the 13 performed/recorded works have received the country’s highest award in composition, while others have been very well received by the audience and critics alike.
As a performer and creative practitioner based in New Zealand, I am personally committed to promoting musical works by New Zealanders. While academic studies have been conducted on New Zealand orchestral and solo piano compositions by Glenda Keam (2006), Lee Martelli (1995) and Joohae Kim (2012), piano concertos have not received such attention.
The keyboard concerto as a form began with J. S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 from 1721 (DeNora, 2005). It features an extended solo passage written for the harpsichord, intended to showcase the composer as performer, performing on the most advanced instruments of the time. In the ensuing years, the harpsichord was overtaken by the fortepiano and piano. With their improved compass and projection/volume, these instruments gained prestige, and notable composer-pianists such as Mozart, Beethoven, Hummel, Moscheles, and Liszt exhibited these advancements through performances of their own original piano concertos. These live concerts became the most effective modus operandi for promoting and showcasing their technical virtuosity, compositional prowess, and stagecraft.
The design of the piano reached its maturity in the 1870s, and by the early 20th century, the concerto form had become more of a performer’s genre, rather than a composer’s genre (DeNora, 2005). Piano concertos came to be seen as a soloistic pianist versus a Goliath-like orchestra, and various critics have chided this genre for its empty virtuosity, keyboard acrobatics, and ‘magic tricks’ designed to entertain, impress, and ultimately serve the performer rather than the music (Keefe, 2011).
Perhaps in response to this, symphonically-conceived works such as De Falla’s Nights in the Gardens of Spain, Messiaen’s Turangalîla-Symphonie and Leonard Bernstein’s Symphony No. 2 were written as essentially pure orchestral works with an advanced, obbligato part for the piano. New composers such as Lyell Cresswell and Leonie Holmes indeed also composed their piano concerto in this vein.
| Year | Composition | Composer/Performer | Notes |
| 2024 | Piano Concerto No. 3 | Lyell Cresswell Premiered by Stephen De Pledge | Meditative, intimate |
| 2023 | |||
| 2022 | Piano Concerto | Leonie Holmes Premiered by Stephen De Pledge | Propulsive, Dramatic |
| 2022 | Piano Concerto | Nick Hunter Premiered by the Composer | Stringent |
| 2021 | |||
| 2020 | |||
| 2019 | |||
| 2018 | |||
| 2017 | Piano Concerto No. 2 ‘Ach wie flüchtig, ach wie nichtig’ | Lyell Cresswell Commissioned and premiered by Michael Houstoun | Still, Fragmentary |
| 2016 | |||
| 2015 | Melting Furniture for piano and orchestra | Karlo Margetić Commissioned and premiered by Michael Houstoun | Quartertones, Off-kilter |
| 2014 | Piano Concerto | Gareth Farr Commissioned by Jack C. Richards, Premiered by Tony Lee | Brooding |
| 2014 | |||
| 2013 | |||
| 2012 | sing songs self a single-movement piano concerto | Chris Watson Recorded by Sarah Watkins | Glistening, Evocative SOUNZ Award Winner |
| 2011 | |||
| 2010 | Piano Concerto No. 1 | Lyell Cresswell Commissioned by Jack C. Richards Premiered by Stephen De Pledge | Monolithe, Serious SOUNZ Award Winner |
| 2009 | Rock Concerto for piano and orchestra | Jenny McLeod Recorded by Eugene Abluescu | Entertaining, Nostalgic |
| 2008 | Piano Concerto No. 3 | Anthony Ritchie Premiered by Emma Sayers | Sunny, Life-affirming |
| 2007 | Piano Concerto | Gao Ping Commissioned by Jack C. Richards Premiered by the Composer | Ancient |
| 2006 | |||
| 2005 | Piano Concerto | David Hamilton Written for the Taharoto Orchestra | Easy going |
| 2004 | Piano Concerto | Kenneth Young Commissioned and premiered by Michael Houstoun | Whimsical, Melancholy |
| 2003 | Three Psalms for piano and chamber orchestra | John Psathas Commissioned and premiered by Michael Houstoun | Energetic, Post-minimalism |
| 2002 | |||
| 2001 | Concerto Balabile for piano and orchestra | Edwin Carr Commissioned by the NZSO premiered by Richard Mapp | Influenced by ragtime, foxtrots, waltzes, etc |
| 2000 | |||
| 1999 | |||
| 1998 | |||
| 1997 | |||
| 1996 | |||
| 1995 | |||
| 1994 | |||
| 1993 | |||
| 1992 | |||
| 1991 | |||
| 1990 | |||
| 1989 | Piano Concerto | Gareth Farr | (No Recording) |
| 1989 | |||
| 1988 | Poems for piano and orchestra | Edwin Carr | (No Recording) |
| 1987 | The Coming of Tane Mahuta for piano and orchestra | Christopher Blake | (No Recording) |
| 1987 | Peregrinations for piano and orchestra | Eve de Castro-Robinson | (No Recording) |
| 1986 | Piano Concerto No. 2 | Edwin Carr | (No Recording) |
| 1985 | |||
| 1985 | Autumn Concerto for piano and orchestra | Anthony Ritchie | (No Recording) |
| 1984 | |||
| 1983 | |||
| 1982 | Piano Concerto No. 1 | Anthony Ritchie | (No Recording) |
| 1981 | |||
| 1980 | |||
| 1979 | |||
| 1978 | |||
| 1977 | Piano Concerto | Christopher Norton | (No Recording) |
| 1976 | |||
| 1975 | |||
| 1974 | |||
| 1973 | |||
| 1972 | |||
| 1971 | |||
| 1970 | |||
| 1969 | |||
| 1968 | |||
| 1967 | |||
| 1966 | |||
| 1965 | |||
| 1964 | |||
| 1963 | Piano Concerto | Philip Hodgson | (No Recording) |
| 1962 | Piano Concerto No. 1 | Edwin Carr | (No Recording) |
| 1961 | |||
| 1960 | |||
| 1959 | |||
| 1958 | Concerto for Piano and Strings | Rod Biss | (No Recording) |
| 1944 | Concerto in F minor for piano and orchestra | Henry Shirley | (No Recording) |
