Elyse Dalabakis
Digital humanities - Research & performance
Connecting people and ideas through digital channels and media
News & Reviews
Students string performance at Tauranga Library
Sunlive Tauranga
January 10, 2020
"...RimuFest students performed for an audience of family and onlookers at the Tauranga City Library, as part of a concert series that the Harikoa Quartet has been putting on for the first time in Tauranga..."
NZSM PhD candidates launch their PhD research on the international stage
New Zealand School of Music Victoria University of Wellington
14 October 2019
Elyse Dalabakis and Xi Liu (Lucy), two NZSM PhD candidates and violists, launched their PhD research onto the international stage through presentations and performances at the 46th International Viola Congress (IVC) – the largest annual conference centered around the viola - in September in Poznan, Poland.
"Elyse Dalabakis presented her PhD research on modern Greek composer Dimitris Dragatakis (1914 – 2001) and his Concerto for Viola.... Violists, professors, and educators in attendance described her lecture as a ‘Congress highlight and fascinating’."
Dimtris Dragatakis: Concerto for Viola
International Viola Congress presentation
Dutch Viola Society
25 September, 2019
"Next up was an interesting presentation by Elyse Dalabakis, concerning the viola concerto by the Greek composer Dimitris Dragatakis. This is part of her Ph.D. research under guidance of prof. Donald Maurice, in Wellington (NZ). She travelled to Athens to perform archive research for this work, and was also introduced to Artur Paciorkiewicz, the Polish violist who did the premiere performance and recording in 1993.
By no coincidence whatsoever, mr. Paciorkiewicz was present in the room, and was subjected to a (prepared-translation) interview about the process of rehearsing and performing this work. The composer (Dragatakis) was apparently unusually pleased with the premiere performance, the first movement of which we were given to hear the actual recording (reportedly a premiere sounding as such). It is indeed a fascinating work!"
Review: Orchestra Wellington's New World
From RNZ's Upbeat, 1:00 pm
December 4, 2018
Reviewed by Elizabeth Kerr
"Dvořák said “In the Negro melodies of America I discover all that is needed for a great and noble school of music”. And so Orchestra Wellington named their 2018 season Great and Noble, and included five Dvořák Symphonies in their programmes. The final concert on Saturday 1 December featured the 9thsymphony, popularly known as the New World..."
Songs of Moana with Te Vaka and Orchestra Wellington: an 8-year-old's review
July 16, 2018
"Eight-year-old Yaya Alley reviews the sold-out live show Songs of Moana at Wellington's Michael Fowler Centre on the weekend...."
10 Questions: Elyse Dalabakis
New Zealand String Quartet
April 25, 2018
"Our new Marketing Administrator, Elyse Dalabakis, talks about her background in the USA and moving to NZ, her experience as an active violist and performance scholar, juggling her busy lifestyle and what she enjoys most about her new role with the New Zealand String Quartet."
Review: Orchestra Wellington The Rite of Spring
From RNZ's Upbeat, 1:40 pm
December 5, 2017
Orchestra Wellington closed its 2017 season with Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring. Conducted by Marc Taddei the Orchestra offered up a dramatic performance that pleased the crowd. Peter Mechen was at the Michael Fowler Centre on the weekend. He discusses if this was the perfect way to end the year.
Review: The Troubadour Quartet
Rotorua Daily Post, Hanno Fairburn
July 17, 2017
"This performance by the newly-formed string quartet was the first of a four-concert tour, and it was immediately apparent that they would live up to their name as a group of wandering minstrels who entertained arrestingly."
MAHLER: Adagio, from Symphony No 10
From RNZ's Music Alive, 7:00 pm on 10 July 2017
“Combining their inventive sound with a forward-thinking musicality, Elyse Dalabakis consistently manage to hit all the right notes. With undeniably unique songs and engaging performances, this is one Violinist to keep your eyes (and ears) on.”
Love for Viola
From RNZ's Upbeat, 1:00 pm
January 25 2017
New Zealand plays host to the 44th International Viola Congress this September. Organiser Donald Maurice and congress manager Elyse Dalabakis explain why they’ve decided to bring it to Wellington. The Congress is usually held in Europe and aims to promote the often neglected instrument. One of the visiting guests will be star Russian-Italian violist Anna Serova.
Viola central to an interesting programme of student performances from three centuries
By Rosemary Collier
May 25, 2016
"...the dark, mellow tone of Elyse Dalabakis’s in the Bruch work... both musicians brought off a difficult work in fine style."