"In this book Sarah Shieff talks informally with a wide range of gifted composers and performers who have all made music their lives. Together, their recollections form a significant documentary history of New Zealand classical music over the past sixty years. Artists as diverse as Hirini Melbourne, Malvina Major, Gareth Farr, Donald McIntyre and Wilma Smith discuss their backgrounds, their training, their mentors, the challenges and the triumphs of their professional careers. People best known as names on a concert programme emerge here as complex human beings, dedicated to a demanding vocation, moving about the world, managing families, working tirelessly in difficult conditions. Interested in many different types of music, and certainly capable of lighter moments, these musicians are engaging storytellers as well as remarkable and generous talents."--Jacket.