An illuminating informal discussion between Prof. Nancy November of The University of Auckland and festival director Vlad Maistorovici, comparing the historic chamber arrangements of Beethoven Symphonies played in the festival this year.

Nancy November MA, PhD, BSc, MMus, BMus (Hons) is an Associate Professor in musicology at The University of Auckland, New Zealand. Combining interdisciplinarity and cultural history, her research centers on chamber music of the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, probing questions of historiography, canonization, and genre. Recent publications include Beethoven’s Theatrical Quartets:  Opp. 59, 74, and 95 (Cambridge University Press, 2013); a three-volume set of fifteen string quartets by Emmanuel Aloys Förster (A-R Editions, 2016); and Cultivating String Quartets in Beethoven’s Vienna (Boydell Press, 2017). She is the recipient of a Humboldt Fellowship (2010-12); and two Marsden Grants from the New Zealand Royal Society. She is currently editing a book on Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony (forthcoming, Cambridge University Press, 2019), and publishing a broad range of chamber music from the nineteenth century in modern editions. The editions include a new practical edition of Beethoven’s middle-period string quartets for Beethoven Werke, and a three-volume set of fifteen string quartets by Beethoven’s contemporary Emmanuel Aloys Förster.

She also has a significant interest in teaching and learning in higher education, with an emphasis on developing student-centred history pedagogies across the disciplines. She is the recipient of teaching-related research grants from Ako Aotearoa, NZ Fulbright. Her current project, funded by the NZ Teaching and Learning Research Initiative, is entitled: Historical Literacy Aotearoa: Fostering Effective Pedagogies for Māori and Pasifika Students in the Historical Disciplines.