July 5, 2026 • 23 mins
Matthias was appointed as the new permanent cellist of NZTrio in February 2026.
Matthias began playing the cello at the age of three and completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Waikato at just seventeen.
His career has taken him across Europe, the United Kingdom, Australia and Aotearoa as a soloist, chamber musician and with the Ares Trio. He has performed with orchestras including the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonietta Köln, Auckland Chamber Orchestra and Opus Orchestra. He performs on a Reiner Beilharz 2014 cello with a Klaus Grünke bow.
His first performances with NZTrio were during the Magnifique concerts in May, followed by the Four Last Songs tour with soprano Emma Pearson coming up in October and the Hypnotique tour in November.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
You're listening to a podcast from News Talk sed B.
Follow this and our wide range of podcasts now on iHeartRadio,
Real Conversation, Real Connection, It's Real Life with John Cowan
on News Talk s ed B.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Gooday, and welcome to real Life. I'm John Cowen, and
I'm fascinated by people and how radically different their lives
can be from what I think is average or normal,
and certainly different from my own life. And my guest
tonight is a remarkably talented young New Zealander definitely living
an exceptional life that I'm looking forward to learning more about.
Welcome international cellist Matthias belzat.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
Hi, John, thank you for having me Ron today.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
A cellist of course, plays a cello and international. And
the fact that you've played all over the world.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
Now, yeah, well, very very very lucky in that regard.
I've certainly traveled quite quite far and wide.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Will give us a list of the stamps you'd have
in your passport.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
Oh well, we've start with the basics, New Zealand, Australia,
We've got China, all over Europe, got the States, We've
gotten yeah, in all over the UK. I've yet to
get to Africa. And South America, but we're working on those.
You've played in Japan, no, not yet, China.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Yes, it's fascinating. And you've been traveling the world as
a professional musician now for a number of years. How
old are you?
Speaker 3 (01:44):
Twenty seven?
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Twenty seven? So it's pretty amazing that you've clocked all
that up at the age of twenty seven, and now
you're back in New Zealand, based in New Zealand and
what's the engagement that you have here?
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Now that's right. I am the newly appointed cellist of
in zed Trio.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
In zed Trio. Now I know that there's New Zealand
good and then there's international standards, you know, and we
sometimes sort of excuse our TV and things like this
by say, oh, it's pretty good for New Zealand. How
does m Z trio rate as on an international scale?
You've had the privilege of seeing international musicians all over
(02:23):
the world. Are we doing okay here?
Speaker 3 (02:25):
Yeah? Well, John, I know spent six years abroad, living
in Germany and working with a number of different different
people along during that time. But there was a pretty
clear reason why I came back to New Zealand, and
I think one of those reasons involves the exceptional standard
of the colleagues that I have the good fortune of
working with, Amalia Hall and somy Kim, and they are,
(02:48):
without a doubt among the top tier of the chamber
musicians of the world. And yeah, it's an absolute pleasure.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Okay, hey, before we go, any look fit at least
just hear a little bit of your music. And Sam,
I think you've got your finger on the button there.
This is the something I found on your website. What
are we listening to? There?
Speaker 3 (03:15):
Oh, that's a snippet of the Divorger Concerto. That was
a debut performance that I had with the Athens Philammonia
Orchestra in Athens earlier this year.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Actually, I watched the video of that and I was thinking,
there's cellists in the orchestra. Wonder how they feel about
you having you as a soloist. You're the one that
gets to wear the white jacket out in front there.
But anyhow, we don't know how they're feeling that. But
the buzz of playing in a stage that must be
so different from the hours and hours of solo practice
(03:51):
that you must do. It must be a completely different
experience stepping out on a stage with the buzz of
the smell of an orchestra, of the audience and their reactions,
and you find you get yourself into a different mood
when you're actually performing as opposed to just playing in rear.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
Oh for sure. I mean, that's that's why we do
what we do, and playing for it for an audience
is what tests are limits, it's what tests our psychology,
our mentality and tests well. It's essentially putting our entire
personality and character on on stage free for the world
to see. So it's quite confronting, but it's there's something
(04:31):
that's just so special about it and you can't it
can't be replicated in any other way.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
Okay, is there a style of music that you that
you prefer to play or was there a whole range
of styles? Is it romantic? Classical? Is it did you play? Well,
tell us what you play.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
I guess anything that is that sort of is encompassed
in the world of classical music. So that can that
can span from early baroque.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Music all the way up to contemporary.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
Contemporary, very modern, very modern pieces at a post now.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
The place the but we listened to. Then you are
playing as a soloist with an orchestra, you play another
context as well. I mean, this is a piano trio
that you've come back to join, a chamber music trio, whatever,
do you play another context?
Speaker 3 (05:22):
Yes? Absolutely, it can kind of it can sort of
emerge in any arrangement that that seems to come up
in terms of performance opportunities, mostly the invitations to to
join a project instead of me curating them myself. And
so through that experience, it's it's come about too to
(05:46):
be a part of various arrangements, if it's only strings alone,
or if it's even just myself playing solo. Usually and
very traditionally, a classic combination is just piano and cello,
and so yeah, I've got a I've got a number
of different coming in those different arrangements.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
And you've seen he had the opportunity to amass a
lot of experience going right back. In fact, I wonder
if you can recognize this piece of music that I
found on YouTube. Now I wouldn't have described that as
classical music. I think it's Jerusalem Ridge.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
I think Limbs Ridge absolutely an old classic that my
family got into.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Yeah, so this tell us about the ensemble playing this.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
Yes, so growing up at a very very musical household,
one of seven kids, and fueled by the by the
consistent inspiration of my parents encouraging us through it. Certainly
was no quiet household. And I think one of the
best genres to get us all involved, which included all
(07:03):
of our various instruments, was getting it a Celtic traditional
country country music, all sorts of different genres and spin
off genres. And they sort of.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Seven kids and parents, So that was a group of nine, correct,
And what instruments were you playing there?
Speaker 3 (07:21):
Well? I was always on the cello. There were four violins,
we have a flute, we have drums and guitar. We've
got piano. Sometimes we broke out into singing or even
dancing or yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Okay, and you performed public. I mean that was very public.
That was on TV. So what was your performance history
with the Bulls at family?
Speaker 3 (07:47):
Yeah, so we, as the story goes, we sort of
started out doing these house concerts. Just began very in
a humble mode at home, and we just played for
our grandparents and then we thought, hey, this is quite
quite a lot of fun. So each year we decided
to put on another annual concert and slowly the numbers grew,
(08:08):
and they grew and they grew until we I suppose
hit hol our record number of having over two thousand
seats filled at the at the Christian School auditorium one year.
And yeah, that ended up launching us, I think, and
giving us the opportunities to go international at the time.
(08:30):
So we had the good fortune of being able to
tour through the United States and also through Germany, even
going to Fiji and give giving some master classes toassport.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
But there you go, that US been an amazing experience
for a young fellow to be able to first will
play with your family and then to get the tour
and perform like that. And the driving force was principally
your mother.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
Well she had My mother had studied piano performance at
Auckland UNI as a as a student, so she had
that foundation. Then my dad was on the on the
guitar as well, and so combined they brought about this
huge enthusiasm for music and it just never never stopped.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
So when did you start playing an instrument? And was
it the cello? Right from the start.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
It was yes, I was three, Yes, And I'm afraid
I can't really recall those those early memories of it,
but I'm sure I I took to it.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
I'm sure your family would have suffered for those.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
Few mosquito to skin as you.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Got good at it. And so it's from three that's amazing.
And when did you decide, yes, this is it, this
is my career for life.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
I've been asked this before, is to what my watershed
moments would be in my career, And it's really hard
to say, but I think there were key experiences that
just contributed one after another. I think I certainly got
a big kick out of participating in competitions along the way.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Yeah, very.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
Very early on, and seeing successes grow from there. I
think just gave me the motivation to keep on going.
I probably knew from about fourteen that fourteen this is
really actually no earlier than that, much earlier than that,
because by fourteen I was, well, I.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
Think you'd already won competitions by.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Four well, I was admitted to university by that stage.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
But that's the story.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
I probably would have would have been committed by that point. Yeah,
probably eight or nine.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
You know, eight or nine, you knew you I would
have known.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
That that was definitely a strong contender for a career path.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
My guest tonight on Real Life is Matthias Balzatu. At
an age when most kids are wondering whether they should
go to university, he already had a degree under his
arm and after university at fourteen, decided what he was
going to do by his late childhood and has been
rushing into his career and reached great heights. We'll be
(11:17):
talking more about the life of an international musician and
what that means, and how he copes and how he's
developed his amazing talent. This is real life on Newstalk
zed B. Will be back in just a few minutes.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
Intelligent interviews with interesting people. It's real life on Newstalg ZEDB.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
Welcome back to real life. I'm John Cowen and my
guest tonight is Matthias Balza who plays the cello, And
even though his cello's in that bit of the ylo music,
I don't think you were playing on that track, will you?
Speaker 3 (12:01):
Unfortunately not? Would it been nice a bit before my time,
before I was born.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
So why did you pick that?
Speaker 3 (12:07):
I picked that up? Well, that's just one of one
of the songs I think that which brings about a
nice fond memory of in particular my days of learning German,
and this is all in preparation of moving to Germany
back in the day. And oh, I just remember the
time going to the library every day to do my study,
(12:27):
and there was a particular playlist I think, with similar
music such as this, which okay, which I would just
listen to every every day.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Now, it's interesting that this is a pop song and
you've been You've mentioned Celtic music when you're growing up
that your family played, and country music, and you play
now classical music. I wondered, especially since I know that
you're also homeschoolede you ever felt sort of out of
sync and out of connection with your peers and your culture,
(12:56):
and whether you actually immersed yourself in contemporary popular music
at all while you're growing up.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
Well, I was certainly well immersed into classical music growing up.
That was my foundation, you know, on the side of
the concerts and the tours that we did with the family.
My training was always centered around classical music. So that
was my one true love, I suppose, But that doesn't
mean that my interests don't lie don't also lie outside of.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
That broad a range of interests.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
Well, I think it developed over time there was a
long time where outside of playing, I probably didn't listen
to any music at all. Okay, not for any particular reason.
I probably just enjoyed the sound of silence. But the
older I'm getting, I think I start to appreciate more
and more.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
When you started playing in competitions and you'd be focused
on a piece, of getting a piece absolutely ready for
presentation rather than just sort of adding something to your repertoire.
When you really have to get down and really dig
into a piece of music, do you find it sort of?
It gets deeper into.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
You one hundred percent. And I think one of the
reasons that contributes to this euphoria of getting a piece
to its highest potential is the idea of internalizing it,
where you have the opportunity to learn it so well
(14:35):
that you have it completely memorized, you can play it
back to front, you've played it through a thousand times,
and so getting a piece to that level is something
that is unbelievably rewarding, and so competitions provided the perfect
(15:00):
opportunity for this to be fostered.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
I think playing as a soloist, do you find there's
a different dynamic when you're working together in chamber group
that you're spending now lots and lots of time with
other colleagues and things, and you've been in lots and
lots of different groups, so that that would be different
from both solo and orchestra. Where orchestra, I suppose there's
a whole crowd of people, but do you enjoy that
(15:24):
the sort of the intimacy of a chamber music group.
Speaker 3 (15:27):
Absolutely. In fact, piano trio, the piano trio arrangement is
one which I hold particularly dear to me because that
was my first proper experience of getting involved in something
really serious as a kid, taking part in the national
(15:49):
Chamber competition with with my friends, and so that experience
was probably one that brought chamber music to the forefront
of my motivations, I think. But you're absolutely right. There's
a remarkable difference in mentality and approach which comes about
(16:13):
when comparing the kind of soloistic playing that you do
with orchestra or by yourself and the intimate chamber music scenario.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
You mentioned friends. Does music build friendships? I mean, do
you sort of have to like the people that you're
going to be working with like so much? And I mean,
you don't have to mention people you don't like. But
I mean, does it tend to naturally build friendships?
Speaker 3 (16:40):
Oh, music is wonderful. It can build you up, it
can present your challenges. It can absolutely build friendships in
ways that you can't explain. You know, this idea of
having the intuition, building the intuition of working with somebody
and figuring out how to phrase something in the same
way when you might be completely different people and have
different beliefs and different philosophies and different approaches in life.
(17:03):
Yet music presents itself as a tool to merge different
worlds together, and it's it's extraordinary.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
You.
Speaker 3 (17:14):
Yeah, you absolutely come across challenges where there might be
a certain work ethic which could be a struggle to
get on with, but you make it. You make it
work when you can.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Do you think you could be a struggle to work
with because your work ethic is obviously incredibly high. I
mean you you know, you're a very very hard working musician.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
I certainly hoped that the other musicians, Yeah, I certainly
hope not in that.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
They have praying to keep on playing with you against
not And it's interesting. I heard a story that you
had a friend that you would sit with that when
you were just a little kid learning how to play
at the zuzuki, and then you came across them. Was
it decades later and the friendship took off again?
Speaker 3 (18:05):
My goodness, you've done your research. Yes, Within the first
two years of me learning the cello, there was a
particular friend that I got on very well with. And
she was Kiwi and well New Zealand born, but born
into a Brazilian family. And so she had moved to
Brazil after just those couple of years.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
And you'd never see her again.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
No thought we'd never see each other again. And years
went by, and I probably had forgotten her name by
that point, or if the name had come up, I'd
probably assume that she went off continued to do something
else in another industry, and lo and behold, I moved
to Germany and to study with this particular teacher, Peter
(18:49):
wisper Away, and there she is in my class already there.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
It's amazing. Probably about fifteen twenty years later sort of that.
That's right, Yeah, that's incredible. Well, I'm glad that it
does create friendships. Because I was talking to Penny Patio,
opera singer a while ago, and he was talking about
the loneliness of being a professional musician. You arrive at
another city, and yes, you're surrounded by people on the
(19:14):
stage and when the rehearsals and things, and then you
go back to a hotel room and you're all on
your own in a strange city. Does that resonate with
you or do you find that you you find companionship
within the community that you're of musicians that you're in.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
I think, as far as personality goes, I can be
a bit of a hermit, and so having the time
to myself is actually one something that I appreciate. I
often find it quite cathartic in a way to do
solo travel and to experience things by myself. I'm very,
(19:56):
very curious and inquisitive about about experiencing new things and
new places and new cultures. But that doesn't mean that,
you know, when I have the opportunity travel with people,
then it's also tends to be a wonderful time.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
Right right, people have talked about music, You're touching them
in ways that other things can't. And I'm wondering whether
you even find there might be even a spiritual dimension
to music for you. Do you find that that is
part of you, know, in that music is so much
part of you, is that part of your spiritual life?
Speaker 3 (20:33):
I think when it comes down to the foundation, music
is something that allows me to engage in in very
deep spiritual beliefs and philosophies that I have that sort
(20:55):
of motivate me every day to keep on going and
to keep on pushing and striving for new things. And
music is there's something completely unexplainable about it and how
it can connect so deeply to certain emotions and to
certain experiences and memories, but it does.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
Right. It's something that a non musical person like myself
probably can't quite grasp. And so do you actually use
music in that way? You actually at times use it
to connect to the to a spiritual sense, or to
auto mood or whatever. Do you actually think, yes, sometimes
(21:32):
I need this bit of music or think like that.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
In a very deep sense. I view music as a
the potential. This might sound a little bit abstract, but
I see music as the potential to perceive the concept
of infinity in a way. And Okay, yeah, I would
(22:04):
clarify on the point you said before, when you said
that you into a musician. I absolutely have to say
that one does not need to be a musician or
anyone that's educated in any by any means in order
to enjoy music or to receive the I'm very glad
at that the power of music.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
Times rapidly running out. But I know that if people
are wanting to hear you, they can catch you. On
the thirty first of October to the fourth of December,
the New Zealand Trio is performing a series called the
Reverie in ten cities around New Zealand. And there's one
earlier than that.
Speaker 3 (22:35):
Yes, before Reverie, we have our tour Space Jump I
to be commencing in a few weeks and August August
fifteen will be beginning and they're making a way around
around the country.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
Well, keep your eye out for New Zealand Trio. I'm
sure that you'd find it incredibly enjoyable. And we're going
out on another piece of music that you've picked for
us again a surprise the Canks.
Speaker 3 (22:58):
Yes, yes, this one brings me back to a very
fond memory of having an adventure through Norway by myself
some years ago.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
That's fantastic, Mattia Spells that fantastic talking with you I
wish you all the best and I look forward to
perhaps catching New Zealand trio. Sometimes this is real life.
On News Talks ed B, I'm John Cown. I'm looking
forward to being back with you again next Sunday Night.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
Qualaty, no suppression of minorities.
Speaker 2 (23:31):
Let me think you on.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
For more from News Talk sed B. Listen live on
air or online, and keep our shows with you wherever
you go with our podcast on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to a podcast from News Talk sed B.
Follow this and our wide range of podcasts now on iHeartRadio,
Real Conversation, Real Connection, It's Real Life with John Cowan
on News Talk s ed B.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Gooday, and welcome to real Life. I'm John Cowen, and
I'm fascinated by people and how radically different their lives
can be from what I think is average or normal,
and certainly different from my own life. And my guest
tonight is a remarkably talented young New Zealander definitely living
an exceptional life that I'm looking forward to learning more about.
Welcome international cellist Matthias belzat.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
Hi, John, thank you for having me Ron today.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
A cellist of course, plays a cello and international. And
the fact that you've played all over the world.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
Now, yeah, well, very very very lucky in that regard.
I've certainly traveled quite quite far and wide.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Will give us a list of the stamps you'd have
in your passport.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
Oh well, we've start with the basics, New Zealand, Australia,
We've got China, all over Europe, got the States, We've
gotten yeah, in all over the UK. I've yet to
get to Africa. And South America, but we're working on those.
You've played in Japan, no, not yet, China.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Yes, it's fascinating. And you've been traveling the world as
a professional musician now for a number of years. How
old are you?
Speaker 3 (01:44):
Twenty seven?
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Twenty seven? So it's pretty amazing that you've clocked all
that up at the age of twenty seven, and now
you're back in New Zealand, based in New Zealand and
what's the engagement that you have here?
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Now that's right. I am the newly appointed cellist of
in zed Trio.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
In zed Trio. Now I know that there's New Zealand
good and then there's international standards, you know, and we
sometimes sort of excuse our TV and things like this
by say, oh, it's pretty good for New Zealand. How
does m Z trio rate as on an international scale?
You've had the privilege of seeing international musicians all over
(02:23):
the world. Are we doing okay here?
Speaker 3 (02:25):
Yeah? Well, John, I know spent six years abroad, living
in Germany and working with a number of different different
people along during that time. But there was a pretty
clear reason why I came back to New Zealand, and
I think one of those reasons involves the exceptional standard
of the colleagues that I have the good fortune of
working with, Amalia Hall and somy Kim, and they are,
(02:48):
without a doubt among the top tier of the chamber
musicians of the world. And yeah, it's an absolute pleasure.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Okay, hey, before we go, any look fit at least
just hear a little bit of your music. And Sam,
I think you've got your finger on the button there.
This is the something I found on your website. What
are we listening to? There?
Speaker 3 (03:15):
Oh, that's a snippet of the Divorger Concerto. That was
a debut performance that I had with the Athens Philammonia
Orchestra in Athens earlier this year.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Actually, I watched the video of that and I was thinking,
there's cellists in the orchestra. Wonder how they feel about
you having you as a soloist. You're the one that
gets to wear the white jacket out in front there.
But anyhow, we don't know how they're feeling that. But
the buzz of playing in a stage that must be
so different from the hours and hours of solo practice
(03:51):
that you must do. It must be a completely different
experience stepping out on a stage with the buzz of
the smell of an orchestra, of the audience and their reactions,
and you find you get yourself into a different mood
when you're actually performing as opposed to just playing in rear.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
Oh for sure. I mean, that's that's why we do
what we do, and playing for it for an audience
is what tests are limits, it's what tests our psychology,
our mentality and tests well. It's essentially putting our entire
personality and character on on stage free for the world
to see. So it's quite confronting, but it's there's something
(04:31):
that's just so special about it and you can't it
can't be replicated in any other way.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
Okay, is there a style of music that you that
you prefer to play or was there a whole range
of styles? Is it romantic? Classical? Is it did you play? Well,
tell us what you play.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
I guess anything that is that sort of is encompassed
in the world of classical music. So that can that
can span from early baroque.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Music all the way up to contemporary.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
Contemporary, very modern, very modern pieces at a post now.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
The place the but we listened to. Then you are
playing as a soloist with an orchestra, you play another
context as well. I mean, this is a piano trio
that you've come back to join, a chamber music trio, whatever,
do you play another context?
Speaker 3 (05:22):
Yes? Absolutely, it can kind of it can sort of
emerge in any arrangement that that seems to come up
in terms of performance opportunities, mostly the invitations to to
join a project instead of me curating them myself. And
so through that experience, it's it's come about too to
(05:46):
be a part of various arrangements, if it's only strings alone,
or if it's even just myself playing solo. Usually and
very traditionally, a classic combination is just piano and cello,
and so yeah, I've got a I've got a number
of different coming in those different arrangements.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
And you've seen he had the opportunity to amass a
lot of experience going right back. In fact, I wonder
if you can recognize this piece of music that I
found on YouTube. Now I wouldn't have described that as
classical music. I think it's Jerusalem Ridge.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
I think Limbs Ridge absolutely an old classic that my
family got into.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Yeah, so this tell us about the ensemble playing this.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
Yes, so growing up at a very very musical household,
one of seven kids, and fueled by the by the
consistent inspiration of my parents encouraging us through it. Certainly
was no quiet household. And I think one of the
best genres to get us all involved, which included all
(07:03):
of our various instruments, was getting it a Celtic traditional
country country music, all sorts of different genres and spin
off genres. And they sort of.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Seven kids and parents, So that was a group of nine, correct,
And what instruments were you playing there?
Speaker 3 (07:21):
Well? I was always on the cello. There were four violins,
we have a flute, we have drums and guitar. We've
got piano. Sometimes we broke out into singing or even
dancing or yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Okay, and you performed public. I mean that was very public.
That was on TV. So what was your performance history
with the Bulls at family?
Speaker 3 (07:47):
Yeah, so we, as the story goes, we sort of
started out doing these house concerts. Just began very in
a humble mode at home, and we just played for
our grandparents and then we thought, hey, this is quite
quite a lot of fun. So each year we decided
to put on another annual concert and slowly the numbers grew,
(08:08):
and they grew and they grew until we I suppose
hit hol our record number of having over two thousand
seats filled at the at the Christian School auditorium one year.
And yeah, that ended up launching us, I think, and
giving us the opportunities to go international at the time.
(08:30):
So we had the good fortune of being able to
tour through the United States and also through Germany, even
going to Fiji and give giving some master classes toassport.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
But there you go, that US been an amazing experience
for a young fellow to be able to first will
play with your family and then to get the tour
and perform like that. And the driving force was principally
your mother.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
Well she had My mother had studied piano performance at
Auckland UNI as a as a student, so she had
that foundation. Then my dad was on the on the
guitar as well, and so combined they brought about this
huge enthusiasm for music and it just never never stopped.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
So when did you start playing an instrument? And was
it the cello? Right from the start.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
It was yes, I was three, Yes, And I'm afraid
I can't really recall those those early memories of it,
but I'm sure I I took to it.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
I'm sure your family would have suffered for those.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
Few mosquito to skin as you.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Got good at it. And so it's from three that's amazing.
And when did you decide, yes, this is it, this
is my career for life.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
I've been asked this before, is to what my watershed
moments would be in my career, And it's really hard
to say, but I think there were key experiences that
just contributed one after another. I think I certainly got
a big kick out of participating in competitions along the way.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Yeah, very.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
Very early on, and seeing successes grow from there. I
think just gave me the motivation to keep on going.
I probably knew from about fourteen that fourteen this is
really actually no earlier than that, much earlier than that,
because by fourteen I was, well, I.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
Think you'd already won competitions by.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Four well, I was admitted to university by that stage.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
But that's the story.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
I probably would have would have been committed by that point. Yeah,
probably eight or nine.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
You know, eight or nine, you knew you I would
have known.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
That that was definitely a strong contender for a career path.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
My guest tonight on Real Life is Matthias Balzatu. At
an age when most kids are wondering whether they should
go to university, he already had a degree under his
arm and after university at fourteen, decided what he was
going to do by his late childhood and has been
rushing into his career and reached great heights. We'll be
(11:17):
talking more about the life of an international musician and
what that means, and how he copes and how he's
developed his amazing talent. This is real life on Newstalk
zed B. Will be back in just a few minutes.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
Intelligent interviews with interesting people. It's real life on Newstalg ZEDB.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
Welcome back to real life. I'm John Cowen and my
guest tonight is Matthias Balza who plays the cello, And
even though his cello's in that bit of the ylo music,
I don't think you were playing on that track, will you?
Speaker 3 (12:01):
Unfortunately not? Would it been nice a bit before my time,
before I was born.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
So why did you pick that?
Speaker 3 (12:07):
I picked that up? Well, that's just one of one
of the songs I think that which brings about a
nice fond memory of in particular my days of learning German,
and this is all in preparation of moving to Germany
back in the day. And oh, I just remember the
time going to the library every day to do my study,
(12:27):
and there was a particular playlist I think, with similar
music such as this, which okay, which I would just
listen to every every day.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Now, it's interesting that this is a pop song and
you've been You've mentioned Celtic music when you're growing up
that your family played, and country music, and you play
now classical music. I wondered, especially since I know that
you're also homeschoolede you ever felt sort of out of
sync and out of connection with your peers and your culture,
(12:56):
and whether you actually immersed yourself in contemporary popular music
at all while you're growing up.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
Well, I was certainly well immersed into classical music growing up.
That was my foundation, you know, on the side of
the concerts and the tours that we did with the family.
My training was always centered around classical music. So that
was my one true love, I suppose, But that doesn't
mean that my interests don't lie don't also lie outside of.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
That broad a range of interests.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
Well, I think it developed over time there was a
long time where outside of playing, I probably didn't listen
to any music at all. Okay, not for any particular reason.
I probably just enjoyed the sound of silence. But the
older I'm getting, I think I start to appreciate more
and more.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
When you started playing in competitions and you'd be focused
on a piece, of getting a piece absolutely ready for
presentation rather than just sort of adding something to your repertoire.
When you really have to get down and really dig
into a piece of music, do you find it sort of?
It gets deeper into.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
You one hundred percent. And I think one of the
reasons that contributes to this euphoria of getting a piece
to its highest potential is the idea of internalizing it,
where you have the opportunity to learn it so well
(14:35):
that you have it completely memorized, you can play it
back to front, you've played it through a thousand times,
and so getting a piece to that level is something
that is unbelievably rewarding, and so competitions provided the perfect
(15:00):
opportunity for this to be fostered.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
I think playing as a soloist, do you find there's
a different dynamic when you're working together in chamber group
that you're spending now lots and lots of time with
other colleagues and things, and you've been in lots and
lots of different groups, so that that would be different
from both solo and orchestra. Where orchestra, I suppose there's
a whole crowd of people, but do you enjoy that
(15:24):
the sort of the intimacy of a chamber music group.
Speaker 3 (15:27):
Absolutely. In fact, piano trio, the piano trio arrangement is
one which I hold particularly dear to me because that
was my first proper experience of getting involved in something
really serious as a kid, taking part in the national
(15:49):
Chamber competition with with my friends, and so that experience
was probably one that brought chamber music to the forefront
of my motivations, I think. But you're absolutely right. There's
a remarkable difference in mentality and approach which comes about
(16:13):
when comparing the kind of soloistic playing that you do
with orchestra or by yourself and the intimate chamber music scenario.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
You mentioned friends. Does music build friendships? I mean, do
you sort of have to like the people that you're
going to be working with like so much? And I mean,
you don't have to mention people you don't like. But
I mean, does it tend to naturally build friendships?
Speaker 3 (16:40):
Oh, music is wonderful. It can build you up, it
can present your challenges. It can absolutely build friendships in
ways that you can't explain. You know, this idea of
having the intuition, building the intuition of working with somebody
and figuring out how to phrase something in the same
way when you might be completely different people and have
different beliefs and different philosophies and different approaches in life.
(17:03):
Yet music presents itself as a tool to merge different
worlds together, and it's it's extraordinary.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
You.
Speaker 3 (17:14):
Yeah, you absolutely come across challenges where there might be
a certain work ethic which could be a struggle to
get on with, but you make it. You make it
work when you can.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Do you think you could be a struggle to work
with because your work ethic is obviously incredibly high. I
mean you you know, you're a very very hard working musician.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
I certainly hoped that the other musicians, Yeah, I certainly
hope not in that.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
They have praying to keep on playing with you against
not And it's interesting. I heard a story that you
had a friend that you would sit with that when
you were just a little kid learning how to play
at the zuzuki, and then you came across them. Was
it decades later and the friendship took off again?
Speaker 3 (18:05):
My goodness, you've done your research. Yes, Within the first
two years of me learning the cello, there was a
particular friend that I got on very well with. And
she was Kiwi and well New Zealand born, but born
into a Brazilian family. And so she had moved to
Brazil after just those couple of years.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
And you'd never see her again.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
No thought we'd never see each other again. And years
went by, and I probably had forgotten her name by
that point, or if the name had come up, I'd
probably assume that she went off continued to do something
else in another industry, and lo and behold, I moved
to Germany and to study with this particular teacher, Peter
(18:49):
wisper Away, and there she is in my class already there.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
It's amazing. Probably about fifteen twenty years later sort of that.
That's right, Yeah, that's incredible. Well, I'm glad that it
does create friendships. Because I was talking to Penny Patio,
opera singer a while ago, and he was talking about
the loneliness of being a professional musician. You arrive at
another city, and yes, you're surrounded by people on the
(19:14):
stage and when the rehearsals and things, and then you
go back to a hotel room and you're all on
your own in a strange city. Does that resonate with
you or do you find that you you find companionship
within the community that you're of musicians that you're in.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
I think, as far as personality goes, I can be
a bit of a hermit, and so having the time
to myself is actually one something that I appreciate. I
often find it quite cathartic in a way to do
solo travel and to experience things by myself. I'm very,
(19:56):
very curious and inquisitive about about experiencing new things and
new places and new cultures. But that doesn't mean that,
you know, when I have the opportunity travel with people,
then it's also tends to be a wonderful time.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
Right right, people have talked about music, You're touching them
in ways that other things can't. And I'm wondering whether
you even find there might be even a spiritual dimension
to music for you. Do you find that that is
part of you, know, in that music is so much
part of you, is that part of your spiritual life?
Speaker 3 (20:33):
I think when it comes down to the foundation, music
is something that allows me to engage in in very
deep spiritual beliefs and philosophies that I have that sort
(20:55):
of motivate me every day to keep on going and
to keep on pushing and striving for new things. And
music is there's something completely unexplainable about it and how
it can connect so deeply to certain emotions and to
certain experiences and memories, but it does.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
Right. It's something that a non musical person like myself
probably can't quite grasp. And so do you actually use
music in that way? You actually at times use it
to connect to the to a spiritual sense, or to
auto mood or whatever. Do you actually think, yes, sometimes
(21:32):
I need this bit of music or think like that.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
In a very deep sense. I view music as a
the potential. This might sound a little bit abstract, but
I see music as the potential to perceive the concept
of infinity in a way. And Okay, yeah, I would
(22:04):
clarify on the point you said before, when you said
that you into a musician. I absolutely have to say
that one does not need to be a musician or
anyone that's educated in any by any means in order
to enjoy music or to receive the I'm very glad
at that the power of music.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
Times rapidly running out. But I know that if people
are wanting to hear you, they can catch you. On
the thirty first of October to the fourth of December,
the New Zealand Trio is performing a series called the
Reverie in ten cities around New Zealand. And there's one
earlier than that.
Speaker 3 (22:35):
Yes, before Reverie, we have our tour Space Jump I
to be commencing in a few weeks and August August
fifteen will be beginning and they're making a way around
around the country.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
Well, keep your eye out for New Zealand Trio. I'm
sure that you'd find it incredibly enjoyable. And we're going
out on another piece of music that you've picked for
us again a surprise the Canks.
Speaker 3 (22:58):
Yes, yes, this one brings me back to a very
fond memory of having an adventure through Norway by myself
some years ago.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
That's fantastic, Mattia Spells that fantastic talking with you I
wish you all the best and I look forward to
perhaps catching New Zealand trio. Sometimes this is real life.
On News Talks ed B, I'm John Cown. I'm looking
forward to being back with you again next Sunday Night.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
Qualaty, no suppression of minorities.
Speaker 2 (23:31):
Let me think you on.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
For more from News Talk sed B. Listen live on
air or online, and keep our shows with you wherever
you go with our podcast on iHeartRadio.
Popular Podcasts
Betrayal Weekly
Betrayal Weekly is back for a new season. Every Thursday, Betrayal Weekly shares first-hand accounts of broken trust, shocking deceptions, and the trail of destruction they leave behind. Hosted by Andrea Gunning, this weekly ongoing series digs into real-life stories of betrayal and the aftermath. From stories of double lives to dark discoveries, these are cautionary tales and accounts of resilience against all odds. From the producers of the critically acclaimed Betrayal series, Betrayal Weekly drops new episodes every Thursday. If you would like to share your story, you can reach out to the Betrayal Team by emailing them at betrayalpod@gmail.com and follow us on Instagram at @betrayalpod and @glasspodcasts. Please join our Substack for additional exclusive content, curated book recommendations, and community discussions. Sign up FREE by clicking this link Beyond Betrayal Substack. Join our community dedicated to truth, resilience, and healing. Your voice matters! Be a part of our Betrayal journey on Substack.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com