Lilburn Residence Trust

26/04/2026

A very special Colours of Fortuna concert by Eve de Castro-Robinson with Barbara Paterson soprano, Ken Ichinose cello and Sam Rich percussion

16/03/2026

Eve de Castro-Robinson is in the house 🏡 🎶🎵
The sun is shining and the Bougainvillia is putting on a show. Welcome Eve!

📷

17/02/2026

18/12/2025

Holiday greetings from the Lilburn Residence Trust - cheers to for a lovely year ✨

24/10/2025

In The Post today! Our Director Cherie sings the praises of historic, creative Thorndon - with a few other Wellington favourites too.

Featuring shout outs to Old St Paul's, the National Library of New Zealand, La Cloche, Le Marché Français Bistro, Le Marché Français Deli Wellington, Maranui Cafe, Glouglou, Te Papa, New Zealand Portrait Gallery, BATS Theatre, Circa Theatre, Lilburn Residence Trust, Rita Angus Cottage, Randell Cottage Writers Trust and Friends of Karori Cemetery!

If you’re looking for something to do in Wellington this weekend, there’s lots of inspiration on that list 😍

22/10/2025

Thank you to everyone who made it for the Wellington Heritage Festival Open Day last Sunday and to our current Composer-in-Residence for sharing some of the beautiful piano pieces she has been working on recently! 🏡

15/10/2025

Join us at Lilburn House (22 Ascot St, Thorndon) on the afternoon of Sunday 19 October 1-4 pm for our annual Open Day! This is a golden opportunity to visit the house and wander around the garden. At 2.30 and 3.30 pm there will be short performances in the Living Room by Penelope Axtens, our current Composer-in-Residence. Penelope will let us hear some of the piano pieces that she has been working on.

Our Open Day can be incorporated into the Thorndon Creative and Historic Cottages walk. A beautiful map (created by Lilburn Residence Trust trustee, Chris Cochran) will guide you from the Randell Cottage Annual Open Day to the Lilburn House and from there to Sketching in the Rita Angus garden. Copies of the map will be available at each of the cottages.

24/09/2025

There are just a few days to go until our 'Hold Up the Bank!' auction and concert this Friday 26th September, 5:30pm in the Hunter Council Chamber at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University. This fundraiser is in aid of a major 280k project the Residence Trust is undertaking to stabilise the bank adjacent to Lilburn House which was damaged in a rainstorm - hence the concert title 'Hold Up the Bank!'. We are currently just 50k off our goal. It is promising to be a wonderful evening, come celebrate and show your support!

We have been overwhelmed with the incredible group of people who have supported this kaupapa including leading contemporary New Zealand photographer Anne Noble. Anne is the recipient of numerous awards including an Arts Foundation Laureate Award and a New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to photography we are so honoured to have her work 'Dead Bee Portrait #18', (2014) as part of our auction.

Tickets are available here: https://events.humanitix.com/hold-up-the-bank

More information about the auction is available here: https://www.lilburnresidence.org.nz/hold-up-the-bank-charity-auction

22/09/2025

This Friday’s ‘Hold Up the Bank!’ concert programme is stacked with pieces contributed by our current and several of our former composers-in-residence. As part of our auction items you will also have the incredible opportunity to bid on the commission of a new work from Dame Gillian Karawe Whitehead for Ariana Tikao (alto and taonga puoro) and Sophia Acheson.

The programme will run:

‘Staircase Music’ (1971) by Douglas Lilburn
‘Suite for Strings’ (1941), (first movement) by Douglas Lilburn performed by the NZSM String Ensemble
‘Light is where you are’ by Ross Harris with Luu Hong Quang on piano
‘Sheen and Shadow’ Penelope Axtens
‘Silk Bridge’ by Chris Gendall
‘from Amour’ Karlheinz Stockhausen
‘Walk With Me’, Concurrent Grooves’ and ‘Improvisation’ by Elliot Vaughan
‘Surrender’ by Briar Prastiti, featuring Elliot Vaughan on viola and Nicholas Denton Protsack on cello
‘Sumner Tides’ by Salina Fisher with Luu Hong Quang piano
‘Glass Music’ by Douglas Lilburn

Tickets are available here: https://events.humanitix.com/hold-up-the-bank

More information about the auction is available here: https://www.lilburnresidence.org.nz/hold-up-the-bank-charity-auction
south .fisher Briar Prastiti Gillian Whitehead

[Image of Dame Gillian Whitehead by Daniel Belton]

20/09/2025

On 26 September as you walk up the Hunter Building stairwell towards the Council Chamber and the ‘Hold Up the Bank! Concert and Auction’ you will experience something incredibly special: as you ascend you will hear Douglas Lilburn's electroacoustic composition, ‘Staircase Music’ and as you descend, following the evening’s entertainment, you will hear ‘Glass Music’. Both of these compositions were created by Lilburn as an end-of-term entertainment for the Hunter Building stairwell in 1971.

While hearing this you will pass by Ralph Hotere’s ‘Song Cycle – the Voyage’ (1975), currently on display as part of the Victoria University Art Collection. While in the room you will be able to bid (for an excellent cause) on a programme from the 1975 ‘Sound Movement Theatre’ tour as designed by Ralph Hotere and generously donated by Bill Manhire (see Lot .21).

See our website for more details – tickets are still available - don’t miss out!