Kia ora everyone,
It's been a long time since our last update on this website, but we are very excited to write to you now with the news that we will be heading off on an ambitious Sonia & Nigel duo musical tour of New Zealand in our own hybrid Toyota, driving from Auckland all the way down to Dunedin in late October and November of this year!
Our first two concerts will be in the Auckland region: October 11th at the Parāoa Brewing Co. in Whangaparāoa & October 17th at Rafters on Ponsonby Road! We' ll then be hitting the road to Wellington on October 24th, with a house concert stop in Taupō the following day and playing our first Bands on Board concert aboard the Kaitaki (the largest ferry in the Interislander fleet) on October 27th.
We'll be reaching Picton just in time to celebrate Sonia's birthday on the 28th with our Picton circle of musical friends before heading to Nelson, where Nigel will be performing in the Nelson Arts Festival with Manjit Singh and his Indo-jazz fusion band Takadimi.
Back to Picton again for a trio concert of the Sonia & Nigel duo with Manjit Singh on the tabla at the Picton Little Theatre on Halloween 🎃
Next we zigzag back in the Nelson direction for a November 1st concert at the charming little Ruby Bay Store Theatre. We are looking forward to reconnecting with our favorite Nelson ukulele band there - Karen (aka Mother Duck) and the Plinkers! 😊🎶🦆
For all of the concert dates and for those to follow, below, you can find the detailed info and ticket links in the “Shows” section of our website www.sonianigelmusic.com/shows 🎟🎟
November 2nd will feature both the biggest drive and the biggest show of our tour (no pressure!) with the incredible opportunity we have been granted to perform in the Great Hall of the newly renovated Te Matatiki Toi Ora The Arts Centre of Christchurch: https://www.artscentre.org.nz/whats-on/a-french-musical-soiree-with-sonia-and-nigel/
On November 4th we look forward to playing again at the Geraldine Academy of Performance & Arts in the beautiful boutique town of Geraldine before heading South to Dunedin for a house concert on the evening of the 5th and many a happy reunion with an abundance of talented musical folks there.
Back up North all the way to Pigeon Bay on November 7th to play at the Pigeon Bay Community Hall.
No rest for the weary the following day with a morning performance at the 08/11 Saturday Lyttelton Market followed by an evening show in Akaroa at the Grand Hotel thanks to our host Ben Campbell of Zed fame.
A few days rest between Christchurch and Picton, then we head back onboard the Kaitaki for another Bands on Board crossing, back to Wellington.
Thanks to a concert we performed in Wellington earlier this year at the Alliance Française on invitation of the French Embassy, we have been invited by one of the chefs of the Wellington prestigious Cordon Bleu Culinary School to perform at the 130th Gala Dinner, celebrating the school's establishment in Paris back in 1895!
“Le Cordon Bleu, as a culinary arts school, was founded in Paris in 1895 by the journalist and publisher of La Cuisinière Cordon Bleu magazine, Marthe Distel. On October 15, 1895 the first cooking demonstration ever to be held on an electric stove was staged at Le Cordon Bleu in an effort to promote the magazine and launch the Paris cooking school. From this point on, the international reputation of Le Cordon Bleu spread rapidly. Great chefs came to the school to teach students further contributing to the world-renowned reputation of the school. As a result, students from a variety of countries were enrolling in classes as well as notable figures including Julia Child in 1950.”
As a lovely result of our last visit to Wellington with the Unsung Heroes Band, we have been invited back to perform at the Hilltop house concert series near the top of the Wellington cable car and botanical gardens. We will be playing a show there on the 15th of November then offering two workshops on the 16th: a French music workshop and a guitar/ukulele/singing workshop after that.
The tour will continue with a journey up the East coast of the North Island. We'll be sharing more details on that chapter of our trip a little later as the above is more than enough than enough information to digest already…
We're excited about this adventure ahead and all the opportunities it will present to (re)connect with friends old and new along the way. We hope you will join us at our shows and for cups of coffee here and there. Please help us spread the word to your friends and family. This tour has been entirely self booked and self funded so every bit of support with show attendance and promotion will be hugely appreciated.
In anticipation of our 10th anniversary celebration trip to France in 2026, and borrowing a song title from our talented singer-songwriter friend Linn Lorkin, we have decided to call this tour “When I See Paris Again”. Alongside some of the more familiar songs from our album “Sweet Paname”, we will be sharing some new repertoire on this tour.
"Alone, it's just a journey. Now adventures, they must be shared." (LOTR)
We look forward to the shared adventures and all the music ahead ❤️🎶
À bientôt!
xoxo Sonia & Nigel
Ps: A huge thank you to Sonia's very talented mom Karen Sheckler Wilson for the tour poster design below 🎨
