Celebrating twenty years of Heritage Concerts
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| Image: Marilyn Portman behind the microphone, 2022. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections - Ngako: Podcast series. Photographer: Benjamin Brooking. |
Marilyn has been a librarian for close to 40 years, and for many of those years has specialised as a music librarian. She is a taonga - a treasured member of staff with incredible musical knowledge and many recitals and events under her belt. Recently, she shared a fond memory from the early days of the Heritage Concerts - a moment that marked the beginning of something special:
“A seed was planted in 2002 when Kowhai Baroque presented ‘An Afternoon of Italian Music and Poetry’ in this very space. Somehow, they managed to get a Maserati parked out the front of the library! It was so successful, we thought if only we had a piano we could do so much more! It just so happened that in 2005 we were approached by Lewis Eady Ltd with a generous offer of some sheet music to add to our amazing collection in celebration of the firm’s 120 years – which of course we accepted with much gratitude. My manager at the time, Juliana Austin was so bold as to ask, ‘you wouldn’t be prepared to donate us a piano as well, would you?’ – and the answer was yes, we were blessed with a brand new Kawai Grand piano and the concert series was born!”
What's in the box?
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| Image: Ephemera from previous concerts |
Marilyn’s decades of dedication are captured in a treasure box of ephemera, a vibrant archive that brings the Heritage Concerts to life. Inside this magical music box are posters, programmes, and brochures from the Thursday Heritage Concert series at Auckland Central City Library, each one telling a story of the music, the people, and the passion behind the performances. It includes details of each of the concerts from their beginning in 2005 through to today. These beloved Heritage Concerts have become crowd favourites, with the series featuring local artists from Tāmaki Makaurau as well as overseas guests. This year, we celebrate 20 years since the start of this concert series, which now goes by the name, 'Notes on Tāmaki.'
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| Image: Magical archival box |
This collection, although specific to the concerts hosted here at Auckland Libraries, offers a documentary of the musical heritage of Tāmaki Makaurau and its music community. It reflects the journeys of young performers at the beginnings of their careers, many of whom have gone on to become international artists. The collection provides a detailed record of who performed, the works they played, and the evolving nature of the series.
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| Image: Amada Quintet performing at the Whare Wānanga, 2024. |
To find out about our concerts you can just do a search for Notes on Tāmaki on the Auckland Libraries website. From the website you can also access the podcasts and videos of the former Thursday Heritage Concerts series. If you are wanting to view and explore this box of treasures, you can make an appointment with the reading room and staff who can retrieve it for you or perhaps you are a young musician who would like to perform in our concert series, please do get in touch!
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