Flautist’s flight

A United Nations of styles mark Tessa Brinckman’s collection of flute pieces.

- Classical by RICHARD BETTS

'I guess new music broke Zoom," quips Tessa Brinckman. The flautist is discussing her justreleased album, Take Wing, Roll Back (New Focus Recordings), comprised entirely of contemporary compositions, when the Zoom connection revolts.

The internet has it wrong; Take Wing, Roll Back is one of the most interesting releases of the year so far - a United Nations of musical styles given focus by Brinckman's playing. "I like uniting different cultures, places. It's almost like I'm uniting parts of myself," she says.

Brinckman has lived and worked in the US for years, but she was born in Aotearoa to a Kiwi mum and South African dad, and as a young person, spent time in both parents' home countries. "I was born bifurcated, you might say, between two cultural and colonial realities."