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Tauranga siblings Anna and Dominic Lee are coming home to perform with Bay of Plenty Symphonia on Sunday, November 15.

The pair took part in the orchestra’s Rising Stars Competition in 2013 – now they will return as soloists in Brahms’ Double Concerto for Violin and Cello.

“Brahms was not that satisfied with the reaction it had with the critics, but it’s one of his greatest works,” Bay of Plenty Symphonia music director Michael Joel said.

“With two soloists who know each other so well, it has been a great piece for the orchestra to get into.”

The concert will open with Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music.

Joel has loved it since he first heard the choral version, and has long wanted to conduct the orchestral version again. “It’s the most beautiful piece of music,” he said.

Bay of Plenty Symphonia can’t wait to welcome home the lee siblings, who will perform with them in to Double Homecoming on November 15. Photo / Richard Lummus

It closes with Borodin’s Symphony No. 2, a big, folk-flavoured Russian symphony that Joel called “an absolute Russian ripsnorter”.

Since their Rising Stars days, Joel said the Lee siblings had both enjoyed Carnegie Hall debuts. Carnegie Hall is a world-famous concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Now they play Brahms at home.

BOP Symphonia’s Double Homecoming is on Sunday, November 15 at 3pm at Baycourt Community and Arts Centre, Tauranga. Tickets are for sale at $25 per adult and $5 per child plus a booking fee at: https://www.eventfinda.co.nz/2026/double-homecoming/tauranga or phone 0800 BUY TIX.

Thanks to BOP Symphonia, The Weekend Sunhas two double passes to give away to Double Homecoming on November 15.To enter, visit: wwwsunlive.co.nz and click on the ‘competitions’ tab and tell us the surname of the siblings who are coming home to perform in the concert. Entries must be in by Tuesday, November 3.