KIRI TE KANAWA THEATRE (AOTEA CENTRE)
1990 postmodern complex on Aotea Square. The 2,139-seat Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre, renamed 2021 in honour of the Māori soprano, is the country's largest proscenium hall. Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra home.
MICHAEL FOWLER CENTRE
Sir Miles Warren's 1983 sculptural concrete drum on Civic Square. 2,209-seat tiered-fan auditorium, NZ Symphony Orchestra residency. The Cook Strait southerly is part of the experience at intermission.
CHRISTCHURCH TOWN HALL
Warren & Mahoney's 1972 modernist masterwork, restored NZ$167m and reopened 2019 after the 2011 earthquake. 2,494-seat in-the-round oval. The Harold Marshall ambiophonic acoustic prototype now used at Tokyo and Adelaide.
SPLORE FESTIVAL
Three-day boutique festival in February on Tāpapakanga Regional Park, a Hauraki Gulf beach 75 km east of Auckland. 8,000 attendees under ancient pōhutukawa trees. Programmed in partnership with Ngāti Whanaunga and Ngāti Pāoa iwi.
WOMAD AOTEAROA (BOWL OF BROOKLANDS)
Three-day world-music festival every March at the Bowl of Brooklands, a natural amphitheatre carved into native bush in Pukekura Park. Lake-facing main stage, audiences on grassy banks under fern groves.
TE MARAE O RONGOMARAEROA (TE PAPA)
Cliff Whiting's contemporary national marae inside Te Papa Tongarewa, the Museum of New Zealand. A wharenui that belongs to all iwi rather than one. Sunday afternoon kapa haka performances free and public.