NewsBiogMusicVideoGig DiaryGalleryPressContactLinksShopFAQ
23rd May 2008 - Fiona appearing at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club this Sunday the 25th!

A last minute performance at the world famous Ronnie Scott's has just been confirmed for this Sunday! Fiona will be performing a 20 minute set accompanied by Ian Tilley on piano. Please visit the Ronnie Scott website for more information...

20th April 2008 - Video of Fiona's Waipara performance is now available online...

An excerpts video from Fiona's recent performance at Waipara, New Zealand is now available to view by using the links below. This concert was part of the "In Tune with Nature," winery tour with kiwi artists Dave Dobbyn and Hayley Westenra.

If you require either
of these free players
click on the logos opposite:
  Dial-up Broadband Dial-up Broadband

12th April 2008 - Greetings from America

It is lovely to be back here and getting a chance to visit some new cities. I am over here touring with Libera. This is a boys choir from London that I have toured with several times now. We had our first concert in Buffalo a few nights ago and it was in a beautiful old church that had been converted into a theatre style venue.. It was beautiful and 'The Beast' (my beloved violin) was really enjoying the acoustics in there.

The day before the show we travelled about 15 miles out from Buffalo to Niagara falls... All I can say is ‘WOW’.... They are very very beautiful.. Mother nature at her very best... What an awesome sight.. If any of you reading this ever come to this part of the world I would really recommend a visit to Niagara falls... Here is a picture from our visit...



We are now doing a concert in Hartford.. I have not had time to see much of the town but I had some great fried chicken from a local restaurant... Good nosh! All the people I have met on this trip are so friendly and again I feel like a very lucky girl to be part of such a great tour.

We are going to New York in a few days and we even have a few days off work there so I am going to do what every women does in NY... SHOP! I am also going to try and find a few jazz jams and maybe have a bit of a play along with some local musicians...
I hope that you are all wonderful, happy, healthy and having fun!
Till next time..



21st February 2008 - Great review from Blenheim Concert! - A message from Fiona....

Hi from beautiful sunny Havelock North. I thought some of you might be interested in seeing this review from the Blenheim concert. (Click here to read the review) I always feel particularly nervous with being a support act as people are not expecting my part of the show. I have been overwhelmed by the reponse I've received from every concert on this tour so far. I'm so proud of my band as I believe they are a huge part of the show. Thanks to all of you for your warm and wonderful comments. Enjoy the sun (if it's out in your part of the world)



10th January 2008 - Happy new year and greetings to you all!

What a beautiful year 2008 has been already...
I have had an amazing time as we have been performing up at the Nelson Jazz Festival. Nelson is truly the city of fun and sun at the start or the new year. I have been blown away by the wonderful people that I have met there and I felt rather sad to leave after the final concert at the School of Music.

I would like to thank everyone who came along to my concerts and who gave me such wonderful support. I really feel at home in Nelson and love performing there every year. We have updated the website with some recent reviews and interviews (on the press page) and photos from the Nelson festival and the DVD release concerts which took place in Christchurch mid December. There are also some lovely new publicity shots which were taken by Jo Jules, (gallery page).

We have a special time coming up with the start of the recording of my new CD happening in the first few days of Feb. then we are off on a winery tour throughout NZ with Hayley Westenra and Dave Dobbyn, (details can be found on the gigs page). I am very excited as I get to perform with my band of favourite NZ musicians who I have been playing with in Nelson and CHCH over the last few months. I have never done a winery tour before so this should also be a wonderful experience...
I hope that you all have a wonderful start to 2008 and I hope to see some of you on the road!
Hugs



17th December 2007 - Live at The ChristChurch Cathedral DVD - available now!

Fiona Pears - Live at The ChristChurch Cathedral DVD - 2007 Cat. no. FS005
"Fiona has spent the last few years performing around the world. This DVD is the result of one of her hometown performances; a sell out show recorded live in the beautiful setting of the ChristChurch Cathedral featuring some of New Zealand’s finest musicians. Listen to Fiona perform a mix of Celtic, Classical, Gypsy, Latin and Tango music in her own virtuosic and passionate style."

Click here to play a clip of the DVD and find out more....


26th November 2007 - Harbour Light Flyer

Click on the image below to download a flyer for Fiona's DVD release concerts at the Harbour Light Theatre on the 15th and 16th December. (Tickets can be booked here:- www.harbourlight.co.nz)



3rd November 2007 - News from New Zealand....

Hi everyone,
Hope you are all wonderful! We are now back in the beautiful Kiwi-land and it is so good to be here. We have just done our first concert in Christchurch at the stunning Great Hall in the Arts Centre and it was a very special show for us to return home to. I rather enjoyed doing this concert as it was quite acoustic with only piano and double bass alongside the fiddle…. It was also nice to play some new tunes and good preparation for the upcoming Harbour Light shows in Lyttelton where we will be releasing my new DVD, “Live at the Christ Church Cathedral.”

For those of you who don’t know, I did a concert in February of this year at the beautiful Cathedral in Christchurch’s Cathedral square. I have to be honest and say that this was one of the most amazing performances for me personally. To have such a great bunch of musicians on stage as well as the most warm and responsive hometown audience made this a night to remember forever… We had a film crew there also so this is how the DVD came to be made. We produced the DVD in London and even though I really don’t like looking at myself on camera, I have to say that I am very pleased with the results and feel lucky to have such a fantastic record of this performance.

For anyone who would like to come to the Harbour Light concerts you can book tickets at their website: www.harbourlight.co.nz
These concerts are on the 15th and 16th of December and there will be a small preview before the show of the DVD footage.

Really looking forward to a wonderful time back in New Zealand. I hope to see some of you really soon…
Thanks for reading…



4th September 2007 - A Great night of Kiwi fun at London’s Shepherds Bush Empire!

This was a great night of fun and music..
For those of you in NZ who don’t know Shepherds Bush Empire, it is a great music venue that a lot of international rock bands play at. It was so funny to do a concert in London where I heard more Kiwi accents than British.. When I did my solos I even got to talk about places like the Mussel Inn in Golden bay and hear the crowd cheer...
Even the band was half Kiwi and the other half were honorary Kiwis for the night!
It was lovely to perform with Dave Dobbyn for the first time and we had a great time rocking out playing Bob Dylan's song 'Hurricane'.. Another chance for me to live out my rock chick dream! The audience was treated to Dave and Hayley singing some famous Kiwi tunes like 'Six Months in a Leaky Boat'... It was a great experience for me to direct this show and work with such fantastic musicians... .. I hope that we can bring this much Kiwi fun to London again! Click here to see some pictures from the show, a big thanks to Stuart Hayter from HWI and Mark Tilley for these!



10th August 2007 - Big Kiwi Concert at The Shepherd's Bush Empire

Fiona will be performing alongside legendary Kiwi artists Dave Dobbyn and Hayley Westenra on the 31st August at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire. The concert is a big send off for the All Blacks to the Rugby World Cup and is set to be a fantastic night. Tickets can be purchased online and a poster can be downloaded by clicking on the image below:-



16th July 2007 - Chichester reviews...

We've just received the following two reviews from the Chichester Observer:-

Fiona Pears and her Band, St John’s Chapel.
Amplified percussion, piano and guitar were quietly setting the scene at the latest Festivities event at St. John’s Chapel, suddenly to be joined by their vivacious leader, Fiona Pears, who literally danced her way on, aflame with flashing eyes and animated gestures. Leaping about with joyful abandon and encouraging the audience to participate whenever they felt the need, she eagerly demonstrated the extraordinarily intense range of the acoustically enhanced violin – her three companions now forming a compact, but truly sympathetic, supporting ensemble.
Although the gypsy-styled, bare-foot gyrations were clearly intended to amuse those present, her routine focused mostly on intense personal reminiscence. All the numbers played – many of which she had composed in moments of nostalgia or longing, while travelling around the world – were personally introduced by Fiona herself. Her violin was then brought into play to express the spirit of those tantalizing traveller’s tales, often in the style of her favourite jazz maestros – Stephane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt – with supreme clarity, skill and passion. Percussion, piano and guitar were not always part of the rhythmic sequence; they were often painting that ethereal, wistful, background scenery, in front of which Fiona’s violin was singing so dramatically – the prima donna violinist from New Zealand had just made another spectacular appearance in Chichester!
John Wheatley

Hayley Westenra, Chichester Cathedral
Here’s the pitch: we twin with Christchurch, New Zealand. Blow long haul and civic junketing costs providing we get their angel-voiced daughter back here regularly.
It’s a prospect to make one go weak in the criticals, for this seriously problematic teenager’s performance quality means any description less than “perfection” is inadequate, as the audience endorsed by clapping and bravoing her into the ultimate mutual love ritual, two encores.
The programme was as impeccably chosen as it was sung, launched by Caccini’s Ave Maria and then enchantingly progressing through such folk songs as The Water is Wide, Scarborough Fair, Danny Boy, her Maori hit Pokarekare Ana and Shenandoah, plus some opera and a gentle ballad she co-wrote.
Hayley remains girlishly natural, but she’s canny and mature enough not to fall into the Dame Kiri trap of misaiming a majestic voice at cabaret/saloon bar material. And how shrewd of her to have vivacious fellow-Kiwi Fiona Pears, blonde hair flying as freely as her lovely violin notes, among the accompanists. This gifted composer/musician could elegantly fill an evening single-handed, so better make that a double annual booking for the antipodean lasses.
Ian Tilley’s piano and Misha Marks’ guitar completed the fab four on an evening which just couldn’t have been better. Next year, though, why not put the costs on the rates and let our adopted daughter Hayley give us a Concert For All in Priory Park?
Terry Timblick

15th July 2007 - Chichester Festival - A fantastic night....!

Fiona would like to thank everyone who attended her performance at the Chichester concert. She had an amazing time and is grateful for the many kind words and emails she has received following the show. She is looking forward to her next performance at the festival. Click on the image below to see some photos from the night...



10th July 2007 - Concert reminder....

A quick reminder about Fiona's concert at St. John's Chapel this Thursday, (12th July.) The concert is part of the Chichester Festival which has been running for the last two weeks. This is set to be a fantastic night, tickets are selling fast so book now to avoid disappointment. Tickets can be purchased from the festival website.

25th June 2007 - Bermuda Hot spot....!

Greetings all website friends,
Here is a little note about my recent trip to Bermuda..
On Saturday 9th of June I was very lucky to perform at a fantastic festival in Bermuda... I had a great time performing my own tunes and also playing with Heather Nova, (see picture.) I was grateful that the audience liked the Gypsy and Celtic music and was so happy to see heaps of people up and dancing as well as lots of children right in front of the stage... It was lovely to perform with Heather again and I always get a buzz out of playing “rock chick" on the violin with distortion pedal.... Apart from a few physical/musical/weather related issues like keeping my lovely piece of wood in tune, (it goes into shock when it has to travel from London weather into the stunning heat of an island such as Bermuda,) it was a wonderful experience to perform there. Bermuda is a beautiful island and I recommend a visit there if any of you get a chance!
Many thanks to Heather Nova and Greenrock for inviting me to their festival!




16th May 2007 - Las Sayas available exclusively from the itunes store....

Following several requests for Fiona's 1st album, "Las Sayas," we have made the CD available for purchase from the itunes store. We currently have no plans to issue the CD again in a physical format so if you would like the album, please visit the itunes store here.

15th May 2007 - Gig in Bermuda with Heather Nova...

Fiona will be supporting Heather Nova at a very special one off event on the island on June 9th. Please click here to find out more information....

4th May 2007 - New music video broadcasting on Classic FM TV now...

Fiona's brand new video for her tune, "Memories of Martin and Mary," is now being broadcast on Classic FM TV throughout the UK and Europe on Sky channel 359, NTL Digital channel 350 and Eurobird 1 satellite. You can visit the station's home page here to find out more.

29th April 2007 - Shop update....

We have updated the shop area of the website to include a separate order form for customers in New Zealand.

In other news, work has begun on Fiona's new DVD of her recent sell-out concert at The Christ Church Cathedral in New Zealand.

The DVD will be released in New Zealand at the end of the year when Fiona returns for her next NZ tour. It will be available in the rest of the world from the start of 2008.

25th March 2007 - Memories of Martin and Mary video online now....!

The brand new video for, "Memories of Martin and Mary," is now available to watch on the website. Choose one of the links below to see it now. A big thank you to everyone who participated in the making of this video....!

If you require either
of these free players
click on the logos opposite:
  Dial-up Broadband Dial-up Broadband

8th March 2007 - Message from Fiona, new tour media and Cathedral photos....

Greetings,
Well here I am back in the London spring time. It is lovely to be back and have such special and beautiful memories of NZ to bring back with me.
THANKS to all of you who have supported me on my NZ tour and WOW, what a night at the Christchurch Cathedral! My greatest thanks to all of you there as it was one of the most special nights I have ever had. “A night to always remember”
I am really looking forward to returning to Kiwi Land with a DVD of the Cathedral concert. We have some amazing footage and it is going to be very exciting to make this DVD...
Have a wonderful year and I look forward to seeing some of you in 2008!


We have added some great new clips and interviews to the tour media window including Fiona's performance on TV One's "Good Morning show," her interview and performances on Radio NZ's "Afternoon's with Jim Mora," and an in depth interview with Ruth Todd on Plains FM. You can access the media pop-up by either clicking here, clicking on the picture below or via the press page.



We have also uploaded some great shots from the Cathedral concert to the gallery page, (under the 'Live Shots' section.) A huge thanks to Jo Jules for these. Work begins soon on editing the music video for "Memories of Martin and Mary" so be sure to check back soon as we will be uploading it to the site.

26th February 2007 - Christ Church Cathedral Review

A huge thank you to everyone who attended the final show at the Christ Church Cathedral last night, it really was an amazing evening. We have uploaded Patrick Shepherd's wonderful review from the press to the media window. There are also lots of other reviews there from the tour and we will be uploading some extra TV and radio appearances over the coming days so be sure to check it out again soon.......!

15th February 2007 - TV and Radio appearances

A quick reminder about a couple of upcoming NZ media appearances:-

Friday 16th February – National Radio – The Live show with Jim Mora. - 1 hour long special with live music plus interview with Fiona and her band...1-2pm. You can listen online here.

Tuesday 20th February - The Good Morning show - Channel One. Fiona and band will be performing on the show at about 9am followed by an interview with Fiona.

8th February 2007 - Thank you!

A big thank you to everyone who came along to the video filming at the Botanic Gardens on Tuesday. We have been looking through the footage and it looks fantastic! We have posted some photos from the day for you to have a look at. Click here to open the photo window... or click on the picture below...(Thanks to Jo Jules for some of these shots.) We hope to have the video edited in the next month or so and will post it to the site when it is ready...



26th January 2007 - Video filming Christchurch, NZ.....Crowd wanted!!

We will be filming the end scene for Fiona's music video, "Memories of Martin and Mary," at the band rotunda in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens on February 6th, (Waitangi day,) from 2:30pm-3:30pm. This last scene involves a big crowd in a party atmosphere! So if you would like to be involved, please come along - the more the merrier!!
Click on the image below for a map to the rotunda...



22nd January 2007 - New photos uploaded....

We have redesigned the gallery page and have uploaded lots of brand new photos from Fiona's recent shows. A huge thanks to Jo Jules and Martin de Ruyter for these. Please click here to check them out....

12th January 2007 - Message from Fiona....

Greetings fellow music lovers,
I just wanted to post a note up on my site to say a MASSIVE THANK YOU to all of you who have been such a wonderful support to me at my concerts so far. The response has been amazing and all the wonderful remarks about my latest CD, “Memories of Home,” have brought me a lot of joy. I can’t wait for the Christchurch Cathedral concert on Feb 25th... We are all excited about this show and I am hard at work doing arrangements for the string players who will be joining myself and the band... The Cathedral is such a beautiful venue and the thought of playing by candlelight with some of my favourite NZ musicians is a very cool thought!

I also thought that I should let you all know that I will be sending out the email soon with the details of the filming for the music video, “Memories of Martin and Mary,” this will be a fun day!!
We also have some very cool photos from our time in Nelson which we will be adding to the site in the next few days. We have also added lots of new items to the tour media window so be sure to keep an eye on that too....
Wishing you all the best for the start of 2007.
Take care

PS - There has been a change to the date of the Greymouth concert. It is now the 9th Feb instead of the 24th Feb. Please visit the gig diary for more details.

18th December 2006 - Christchurch Cathedral Concert on sale from Friday 22nd December...

Tickets for Fiona's final 06/07 tour concert at the Christchurch Cathedral will be available to buy from Friday.
Please visit the gig diary page for more details.

You can download a hi-res poster for the cathedral concert to print out by clicking on the image below...



Also the Southland TV interview which was due to be transmitted yesterday will now be shown next Sunday 24th and the following Sunday 31st at 6pm, (nationwide on Sky Channel 90.)
We will also be adding the interview to the media window in the next couple of days.

11th December 2006 - itunes, Southland TV and Christchurch Cathedral Concert....

"Memories of Home" is now available to download from the itunes store. The Bonus edition of "Doorways to Distant Lands" will also be added in the next few days...

itunes (click on the icon to visit Fiona's page at the itunes store)

Fiona is due to appear on Southland TV on the "In Person" show on the 17th December at 6pm. This is a 30 minute in depth profile on Fiona which will include interviews and a short performance. The programme will be broadcast nationwide on Sky Channel 90.

We have just confirmed a final show at the Christchurch Cathedral in the square on Sunday 25th February at 7:30pm. This will be the last show in New Zealand for several months and will include Fiona's regular band plus string section. We will add more details about this show over the next couple of weeks so be sure to check back soon...

Unfortunately the date of the She Cafe concert has had to be changed, the new date is Saturday 23rd December. Please refer to the gig diary for more details....

17th November 2006 - Tour 2006/2007 Media Window.....

We have built a media pop-up so that you can follow the progress of the tour through the press and media. We will be constantly adding new articles, interviews, reviews and radio and TV clips, so be sure to keep checking back. You can access the media page by either clicking on the picture below or by going to the press page.

In other news, tickets for all shows are now on sale. Please go to the gig diary page for booking details...



Some upcoming media appearances are listed below, (New Zealand times.) There are several more lined up so be sure to check back soon to find out more details on these....

Monday 20th November – CTV interview plus live performance between 9 and 10am. (Good Living show.)
Tuesday 21st November – More FM interview with Luke Spittle, 92.1FM. LIVE AT 4:30PM. You can listen online here
Sunday 17th December - Southland TV. 30 minute feature on the "In Person" show. 6pm. Nationwide on Sky Channel 90.
Monday 18th December – Newstalk ZB Invercargill interview with Malcolm Gayfer – 864AM. - Time TBC.
Monday 22nd January – Radio Dunedin interview with Lindsay Rackley, 10:30am – 1305AM
Friday 26th January – Channel 9 Interview, (Dunedin) - Evening News item.
Tuesday 13th February - Newstalk ZB Palmerston North interview with Ian Johnston. (927AM) - Time TBC.
Friday 16th February – National Radio – The Live show with Jim Mora. - 1 hour long special with live music plus interview with Fiona and her band...1-2pm. You can listen online here.

9th November 2006 - Tour Poster.....

You can download a hi-res tour poster to print out by clicking on the image below...



4th November 2006 - Feature in the Southland Times and tour update....

There was a feature about Fiona's upcoming show in Invercargill in yesterday's edition of the Southland Times. You can read the feature here. In other news, Fiona's nationwide tour is now confirmed. Up-to-date details can be found on the gig diary page. Fiona will also be appearing on TV and radio shows across the nation to promote the tour in the coming weeks, so be sure to check back here soon for more info.....

22nd October 2006 - New photos, review and tour update

We have uploaded some great new publicity shots to the gallery page, a huge thanks to Jeremy Poll for these...In other news, "Memories of Home," has just received another great review, this time from NZ News UK. You can read the review here.

Fiona is now confirmed to play, "The Festival of Lights," in New Plymouth, (NZ) on January 12th. More details below...



28th September 2006 - Message from Fiona....

"I'm now getting ready to start my New Zealand shows. I'm very excited about this so please visit my gig diary for more information, (this will be updated regularly over the next few weeks.) I look forward to seeing some kiwi's soon!"

8th September 2006 - Memories of Home review...

We have just received the following review from Patrick Shepherd of the Christchurch Press:-

Fiona Pears. Memories of Home.
Fruitsalada Records FS004
Rating ****1/2
Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd

I have just listened to this one over and over for hours and I’m still not tired of it. Fiona Pears is back with this energetic and melodious batch of numbers spanning an array of idioms, the bulk being her own material. Well known here in her home town she needs little introduction and it was great to see her bringing her talents back to NZ for this
disc and featuring local musicians as backing.
The “style” as such is a rich fusion of Pears’ musical loves to date, stretching broadly across folk, gypsy, Irish, Scottish and jazz but with a definite classical twist coming through on occasion. There’s even a taste of the romantic
concerto cadenza in Magic Sands and Far Away. It’s all exciting stuff. I loved the soulful Cinema Paradiso (about
time the beautiful Morricone score to this film got more recognition) and the bravura and passion on such titles as
Hava Nagila, Gypsy Lament and Fire Fly that are her trademark. Pears fans will love it and I eagerly await the
next installment.

31st August 2006 - More NZ Shows added.....

We have added more dates to Fiona's New Zealand tour. Please check out the Gig Diary for more details....Fiona is busy rehearsing in preparation for the tour and has said that she is very excited about returning to New Zealand...

25th July 2006 - Pictures from the Il Divo Tour



19th July 2006 - New pictures and Quecumbar review added to the site.

Following on from the fantastic UK CD release concert at Le Quecumbar on Sunday night, we have uploaded some shots from the show to the live gallery, (thanks to Jo Jules for these.) Also you can read a review from the show here, many thanks to Richard Norrington for this.

14th July 2006 - Fiona interviewed in this weeks edition of NZ News UK.

Click on the image below to read the interview:


13th July 2006 - New Website Launched.

Hi everyone, thanks for visiting my new website. I hope you like the new design and enjoy your visit.


13th July 2006 - New CD out now!!

"Memories of Home," the beautiful new CD from Fiona Pears is available to buy now! The CD contains 14 tracks and features 12 brand new originals which Fiona describes as, "her most captivating and exciting to date...." Go to the music section for more details....

CD Release concert at, "Le Quecumbar," Battersea - Sunday 16th July 8pm

To celebrate the launch of her new CD, "Memories of Home," Fiona and band will be performing tracks from the CD at Le Quecumbar in Battersea this Sunday. Tickets can be bought direct from www.quecumbar.co.uk but be quick as space is limited and tickets are selling fast...

Le Quecumbar
42-44 Battersea High Street, London SW11 3HX, UK
Doors open 6pm, food available 6-8pm
Show starts 8pm. Tickets £10.
Click on the image for a flyer...


30th June 2006 - Fiona in Classic FM magazine...

Fiona appears in the July issue of Classic FM Magazine,
See pages 14 and 89...

Click on the image for more details...



NewsBiogMusicVideoGig DiaryGalleryPressContactLinksShopFAQ