Phil Parker

It’s time to drink and be merry so PHIL PARKER selects his favourite tipples of 2025 for our edification and festive joy. As I write, Pohutukawa blooms are blossoming like ruby puffballs in the green foliage across NZ. Hopefully, this predicts a long, hot... See more

Who would have thought that an evening shadowed by the figure of Death could draw the crowds? This excellent concert by the Dudok Quartet Amsterdam, performed in Sheffield under the auspices of Music in the Round, gave the definitive lie to any worries th... See more

Witchdoctor’s wine guru PHIL PARKER relishes in the bumper crop of fresh and fabulous 5-star 2025 drinking sensations. This is a great time of the year for Aotearoa wine fans. New releases from this year’s 2025 vintage, and some a bit older, are coming in... See more

This Sheffield concert by the excellent Piatti Quartet raised more questions than it answered about the relationship between music and film, but it provided considerable food for thought, not to mention the hugely impressive performances. Of the four work... See more

Concert programming is often mundane: witness the overture-concerto-symphony formula often encountered. No such charge could be levelled at pianist Shani Diluka's Sheffield recital in which she invited us to accompany her on a journey towards transcendenc... See more