Listener Kathy Gillard's fantastic version of "The Holly and the Ivy"

An irreverent take on "Good King Wenceslas" by listener Graeme Cairns!

Listener Dana Livesay's moving take on "In the Bleak Midwinter".

Not only are we saying goodbye to the decade, we are also farewelling Upbeat producer and music journalist Zoë George. Here are five pieces that reflect her time with RNZ Concert and RNZ Music.

The Rodger Fox Big Band has been invited to play a concert at the prestigious Jazz Education Network conference in New Orleans in January,

Kiwi experimental composer Samuel Holloway explains why music is a “complex beast” and talks about NZTrio performing his work ‘Stapes’ this weekend.

The Pop-up Globe Theatre in Auckland is about to begin its final season. We say farewell with music director Paul McLaney.

The New Zealand Youth Choir is marking its 40th anniversary with a special concert and a tour around the Pacific. David Squire discusses the history of the choir and how it’s encouraged young people to sing up.

Bass-baritone Hadleigh Adams has gone from humble beginnings in Palmerston North to performing with major orchestras around the world. He returns home for the first time in 11 years and will make his New Zealand Symphony Orchestra debut this week singing in Handel’s ‘Messiah’.

Dr Eve de Castro-Robinson is one of this country’s leading composers and composition educators. She’s putting her books away having announced her retirement from teaching after 25 years. She talks about her career, her compositions and what’s next.

2020 is going to be another busy year for Sir Roger Hall. New Zealand’s most successful playwright plays his favourite tunes and tells us about his upcoming world première.

Orchestra Wellington has just announced its 2020 season. It celebrates a great romantic with big tunes and rich harmonies.

All this week talented young musicians will be giving their all at the Gisborne International Music Competition.

Monarchs, priests, soldiers and enraged fathers - just some of the many roles baritone Roger Wilson has played in his opera career so far.

Opera can be an acquired taste but opening it up to those who might approach it with trepidation is the ethos behind Wanderlust Opera.

The history of choral music in New Zealand has been documented in a new book Sing New Zealand – the story of choral music in Aotearoa by Dr Guy Jansen, who died earlier this year. His daughter, Nicola Kiver, is in New Zealand for the launch of this important book.

Legendary jazz guitarist Pat Metheny is set to make just his second NZ appearance, at the 2020 Auckland Arts Festival.

Nick Tipping's full interview with jazz guitarist Pat Metheny.

Tonight there’s a star-studded gala to celebrate the naming of the Kiri Te Kanawa theatre at the Aotea Centre. On stage are three performers whose lives have been touched by New Zealand’s greatest opera export.

Opera might seem like a glamorous vocation, however performers train for years before even stepping onto the stage. Operatic export Martin Snell is back in New Zealand to perform but knows all too well how difficult the opera world can be.

A new study published in the Psychomusicology: Music, Mind, and Brain journal has shown that the likes of ABBA, Queen and Coldplay should now be put on the same pedestal of the world's greatest classical composers.

Hayden Tee is one of New Zealand’s most successful musical theatre exports. He's just released a new album and is back home to perform in Les Miserables. The humble, and entertaining leading man talks about his new album Face to Face, his small town heritage and working with a 64 piece orchestra.

The New Zealand jazz community is about to get a lot better connected with the launch of Jazz Aotearoa.

“If we serve up the same old cat food, then no one gets to taste anything different,” says New Zealand Opera’s General Director Thomas de Mallet Burgess, who announced the 2020 season today.

Yo Yo Ma performs with New Zealand artists in an extraordinary event on the banks of the Ōtākaro/Avon River in Christchurch to celebrate the way water connects us.