Quirky Quartet to Wow Wellington - Beyondsemble begins tour at Wearable Arts

This September, Beyondsemble will kick off their second New Zealand tour with special performances to an audience of 35,000 at New Zealand’s iconic Wearable Arts Awards, providing the pre-show music for two weeks in the windy city. 

With some members returned from touring in North America and Europe, the quirky quartet is keen to hit the road again on home soil. They will look to infuse their current repertoire with new sounds picked up from recent travels to wow even the most imaginative audiences.  

Sponsored by Classic Campers, the band will tour New Zealand in a VW camper. They will travel from Wellington to Dunedin via Hokitika, then up the East Coast of both islands visiting local clubs and cafes and with guest spots at the Nelson Arts Festival and the Wellington Folk Festival.   

Mike Nettmann in About the Arts said of their 2009 Kerikeri show: “How fortunate for all who managed to get a seat as the show was nothing short of pyrotechnic display of dazzling virtuosity by four highly imaginative and gifted musicians.” 

Assembled by Craig Denham, possibly one of the country's most talented musicians, this is Beyondsemble’s second New Zealand tour in as many years. This innovative band will play some of the most exciting acoustic music to come out of New Zealand. Their delightfully fresh sound is full of texture, spontaneity and a tangible sense of adventure. 

Denham says: “People have asked when we are coming back, which is really so humbling and it makes us all want to give our best when we’re playing. I think it’s the rural areas, where people often don’t have the chance to hear the kind of music we play, that makes for a really special, intimate gig.”   

With Beyondsemble Denham seems to have struck the right chord as the members are multi-instrumentalists which gives them a great flexibility in terms of the styles they are able to cover. This highly creative four-piece performs a range of music from around the world and will often weave such styles as Celtic, Eastern European, Jazz, Tango and Latin to create an adventure in musical exploration, often composing new tunes on the spot in front of the audience.   

The eclectic mix of tunes and songs, both original and sourced, are executed with passion, energy and pure joy. “I find it personally satisfying when our music is making a real connection with people and leaving everyone (us included) feeling inspired by the event,” says Denham. 

The band members are: Craig Denham on accordion, keyboards, vocals and whistles; Jess Hindin on violin and keys; Chris Koole on percussion and vocals and Mark Mazengarb on guitars and bouzuki.

-End- 

For more information or to set up an interview, please contact:

Craig Denham: Craig@craigdenham.com

Leola Abraham, Publicist: labraham32@yahoo.com 
 
 

Tour Schedule: 

About the band

Started in July 2009, Beyondsemble is the band that can play anything. The idea behind the name Beyondsemble is very simple. It’s a combination of the words beyond and ensemble and the idea is that the band is attempting to go beyond genre.  

Craig Denham

Multi-instrumentalist Craig Denham is something of a "Jack of all genres". Playing keyboads professionally since the age of 12 in many different bands of many different styles and world music traditions and also with storytellers and improvised theatre, he somehow seems to embrace the very essence of music itself. The Northern Advocate once described him as "oozing talent" and posed the question "is there anything this man cannot play?" Craig himself is much more humble about his talents and accomplishments and the tangible passion for his craft and generous nature shine through in his playing. You never know quite what is going to happen next and neither does he. Craig says that's all part of the magic of live music and what he loves most about being a musician. 

Jess Hindin 

After completion of Jessica’s performance violin degree at Auckland University, she travelled to Ireland and performed as part of a trad Irish stage show in Galway. While she was there, she successfully auditioned for the internationally touring world music show “Barrage” based in Alberta Canada. After almost 5 years of extensive touring encompassing 5 continents, she returned home to continue her career as a full time freelance musician concentrating more on writing and arranging music. When she’s not touring one of her bands, Jessica spends time in the studio recording for various jazz, country, and celtic artists. Recently she has performed in NZ with such artists as Harry Connick Jnr, Eileen Page, Boh Runger, Hayley Westinra, and Tim Beverage. She has been involved with many TVNZ productions inc 'Stars in Their Eyes', and 'To Sir With Love' Howard Morrison Tribute.  

Mark Mazenbarb

Mark is an Auckland based guitarist where he performs both as a soloist and also with a variety of musicians around the region. After completing a classical performance degree in 2006, Mark has become an experienced musician in a wide range of genres including bluegrass, celtic and jazz music, and has played with several top guitarists including Tommy Emmanuel and Hank Marvin. Mark has a busy year in 2010 performing at the Chet Atkins Convention in Nashville (July) along with several other concerts throughout the USA and Europe. He has recently completed his debut album titled "Acoustic Affair", and has several other recording projects on the go. For more info visit www.markmazengarb.com  

Chris Koole

Chris began composing and performing from a young age. Chris grew up in a musical family where he and his brothers learned the piano, before moving onto learning guitar and drums. Chris has created his own version of the cajon (box drum) as a way to reproduce most of the sounds of a drum kit without having to transport one.