Concerto issue 11 by digital shelf

CO N C ERTO T H E OF F IC I A L M AG A Z I N E OF T H E C A P E T OW N P H I L H A R MON IC ORC H E S T R A # I S S U E 10

NEW YEAR, NEW LOOK. HERE'S WHAT'S COMING IN 2018 SEE PAGE 12

02 WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH CAPE TOWN CITY HALL?

03 HERE'S WHAT YOU SAID ABOUT OUR LAST SEASON....

04 JOCHEN RIEDER:

JET SET AND READY TO START 2018!

06 WELCOME TO OUR GRAND YOUTH EXTRAVAGANZA

CO N C ERTO

Change is about more, bigger and better

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EDITORIAL TEAM

performance of Journey, our collaborative production with the Zip Zap Circus School, I could not help thinking of the excellent Brahms Symphony No. 1 just one night earlier in the City Hall. Two totally different concepts: Journey was a spectacular show of movement, drama, thrills and theatrics; the Brahms a truly first class formal classical experience.

And did I mention Dubai? On the same two nights a large number of CPO musicians were playing for Cape Town Opera in the spectacular new Dubai Opera House.

elcome to our new Concerto.

But, as the saying goes, the more things change,the more they stay the same. Our layout and look may have changed, but our recipe for making Cape Town a proud city with a first class orchestra is still the same.

Over the past decade we have focused more than any other professional multi-functional ensemble on transformation and the transfer of skills to a new generation of musicians. Our future lies in diversity: musicians, genres and activities.

Early in November, while attending the opening

The Cape Town Philharmonic is making sure our city stays on the musical map. And the only change music lovers can expect is more, bigger and better.

CHIEF EXECUTIVE & EDITOR IN CHIEF LOUIS HEYNEMAN louis@cpo.org.za

MANAGING CREATIVE DIRECTOR JO HANN M SMITH johann@digitalshelf.biz

MARKETING & MANAGING EDITOR SHIRLEY DE KOCK GUELLER shirley@cpo.org.za

ASSISTANT EDITOR MARY FREW mary@cpo.org.za

CPO ARTISTIC EXECUTIVE SERGEI BURDUKOV sergei@cpo.org.za

CONSULTING EDITOR DARREN COMBRINK darren@digitalshelf.biz

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LOUIS HEYNEMAN

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CHIEF EXECUTIVE, CAPE TOWN PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

ALL INFORMATION WAS CORRECT AT THE TIME OF GOING TO PRESS, BUT IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE. NO PART OF THIS MAGAZINE MAY BE REPRODUCED OR TRANSMITTED IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY MEANS, ELECTRONIC OR MECHANICAL, INCLUDING PHOTOCOPYING, RECORDING OR BY ANY INFORMATION STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL SYSTEM, WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM THE AUTHOR.

Upgrading

of City Hall After seventeen years of negotiations, disappointments, disagreements, cooperation, good faith, broken promises and other unmentionable things, the upgrade of Cape Town’s most famous concert venue, the “Grand Old Edwardian Lady of Cape Town” has finally started. By the middle of 2018, all the aspects of the City Hall that were stumbling blocks to professional concerts will hopefully improve.

It all started with the roof, which was replaced at a cost of almost R30 million. Water leaks onto the famous old organ was one of the initial concerns. The building is one of Cape Town’s signature buildings and the CPO endured the sad state of repair mainly because there is no equal to the atmosphere and acoustical properties as a concert hall.

The old-fashioned shoe-box shape and dimensions are ideal for the binding and mixing of complex timbres and variety of sounds produced by a symphony orchestra. That’s why it’s so bad for speaking and so good for symphonic music.

Why did we endure the shortcomings of the neglected building so long? Simply because there is no alternative.

The acoustics of Artscape Opera are designed firstly for singing and, because the orchestra should never overpower the voice, the richness of those orchestral timbres had intentionally to be kept down. The main hall at the Cape Town International Convention Centre is so dry that the orchestra needs to be amplified. The stage is also too small to fit an orchestra!

Neither St George’s Cathedral or the Groote Kerk nor

THE CAPE TOWN PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA ACKNOWLEDGES THE GENEROUS SUPPORT OF SPONSORS AND DONORS, WITHOUT WHOM WE COULD NOT EXIST.

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any school hall within the City Bowl is a decent symphonic concert venue: they’re either too small, the acoustical properties are wrong, lack of safe parking, not enough toilets, view lines from the seats … name it – there is always a major obstacle.

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GRAHAM AND RHONA BECK

2018 © CONCERTO MAGAZINE

PHILLIP SCHOCK Please bear with us over the next two symphony seasons.

Charitable & Educational THETHE CAPE CAPE TOWN TOWN PHILHARMONIC PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA ORCHESTRA ACKNOWLEDGES ACKNOWLEDGES THETHE GENEROUS GENEROUS Foundation When we come back to the City Hall in August, we can SUPPORT SUPPORT OF SPONSORS OF SPONSORS ANDAND DONORS, DONORS, WITHOUT WITHOUT WHOM WHOM WE COULD WE COULD NOTNOT EXIST. EXIST. PUBLIC & CORPORATE FUNDERS, DONATIONS IN KIND, expect a redecorated interior (carefully restored under LORENZO & STELLA CHIAPPINI JOAN ST LEGER LINDBERGH PARTNERS & MEDIA PARTNERS Charitable & Cultural Charitable Trust THE CAPE TOWN PHILHARMO the watchful eyes of Cape Heritage), new flooring andTrust SUPPORT OF SPONSORS AN carpets in the upstairs lobbies and hallways, new chairs, restored woodwork, replaced copper door handles, a slightly lowered stage level for improved sight lines Gerlinde Moser from the first 15 rows and (my absolute favourite) an air conditioning system for those hot and stuffy summer PARTNERS AND DONATIONS IN KIND nights. The shocking condition of the “Green Rooms” GRAHAM GRAHAM AND AND RHONA RHONA BECKBECK (for the conductor and soloist) have been an embarrassment for decades. These will be PHILLIP PHILLIP SCHOCK SCHOCK refurbished in total.

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A permanent PA system, specially adapted for the rich acoustic, will be installed. The condition of the toilets, which were refurbished a few years ago, albeit with doors that don’t lock or missing toilet paper, will hopefully be part of a proud new concert venue for Cape Town.

Finally, the biggest headache of all is the unsafe surroundings – a Grand Parade full of unsavoury and desperate, opportunistic elements preying on audience members, especially after concerts. An integrated safety and gentrification plan is in the pipeline for the east city precinct. Until then the CPO will hire a team of civilians to keep an eye on your car and purse. LH

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have your say

notes

EVERYTHING HAPPENING AND COMING SOON

Our article on Concert Etiquette in the last issue of Concerto provoked quite a bit of interest and response …

KNOW US BETTER

Thank you so much for your article on concert etiquette.

One other thing that is intrusive is jangly jewellery, especially bangles.

I carry ribbons in my bag and offer to tie up the offender’s private percussion section.

FARIDA BACHAROVA GUEST CONCERT MASTER

It would be nice if the ushers stopped people from entering the auditorium while the orchestra is playing.

Why do people have to eat in the auditorium?

It’s crazy; they won’t starve in 2 hours!

I prodded my foot into a woman’s back to no effect the other night as she was taking pictures.

At the end of the piece we explained to her and there was no remorse!!!!

Thank you for the wonderful concerts and all you do for us! Ginny, via email

Here's what people tell us on social media After every concert we are delighted with accolades such as Stunning, Sensational and Amazing. And more specific ones…

What a stunning concert! Marianne, on Facebook This was just... inspiring. Such beautiful music and such amazing skill. Wesley, on Facebook What a memorable concert. Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto & Dvorak Symphony no 8.

John, on Facebook Fantastic... SAMRO, on Facebook It was absolutely awesome. Both orchestras were amazing. Loved the drums, especially with the Phil Collins pieces, loved it!

Dawn B, on Facebook Lovely concert maestro. Exceptional Symphonic dances. [Vondrácek] was sensational, not a music sheet in sight and those hands on the ivories, OMW!!! Miranda, on Facebook Broadcast was awesome; thanks!

Juanita, on Facebook

JOIN THE CONVERSATION!

info@cpo.org.za

South African musicians shine all over the world

After more than 20 years in this country, Farida remains part of the Russian strings school way of playing, something she instils in the musicians who pass through her hands at the SA College of Music where she is associate professor.

She graduated from the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory, was at the age of 25 one of the youngest female concertmasters in Russia, was a recitalist in the Chamber Hall, Rachmaninov Hall and White Hall in Moscow and worked with conductors like Menuhin, Ashkenazy, Ozawa, Rozdestvensky, Mazur and Svetlanov.

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Other young South Africans have come outh African singers are well back to play with the CPO in the Huberte known abroad — prize-winRupert Memorial Concerts. The Rupert ners like Pretty Yende, Levy Music Foundation makes it possible each Sekgapane and Golda Schultz, year to bring back to perform in Stellenwho made her debut at the Metropolitan bosch a young musician who is studyOpera in September. But instrumening or has been working overseas. The tal musicians are also taking the South series, which has been presented for alAfrican name far and wide — Christina most a decade, honours the late philanBrabetz, for example, born in Namibthropist Mrs Huberte Rupert. Thanks to ia, moved to Cape Town when she was this, the CPO has been able to welcome five, and from back young muthe age of eight sicians such as to thirteen, Berlin-based pianist although then Ammiel Bushakevbased in Geritz, carving a many, played career as, amongst many times in other genres, an South Africa. award-winning She won second vocal accompanist and third places in Europe; violinist CHRISTINA BRABETZ in the Sanlam Sarita Uranovsky National who lives and works Competition and says “I am very grateful in Boston; violinist Zoe Beyers who is asto my incredible mentor, Prof. Jack de sociate leader of the City of Birmingham Wet, who greatly influenced me and Symphony Orchestra and visiting tutor inspired me on my path as a soloist”. at the Birmingham Conservatoire; piaChristina is happy to pass on what she nist Jan Hugo who lives in Paris; pianist has learnt and will be doing a master Kathleen Tagg, who has a vibrant proclass for violinists in the Cape Town fessional life based in New York and this Philharmonic Youth Orchestra while December the pianist Roelof Temmingh, she is here. now studying in the UK.

“I AM VERY GRATEFUL TO MY INCREDIBLE MENTOR”

SUZANNE MARTENS GUEST CONCERT MASTER Suzanne, formerly full time concertmaster of the CPO in 2001-2 when she accepted a position to teach at the Conservatoire in Stellenbosch, has been guest concertmaster from 2005. She studied at the University of Pretoria and then in Holland and Salzburg, obtained a Master’s in chamber music at Stellenbosch, and is currently completing her doctoral degree through the University of Pretoria. She was associate concertmaster of the former New Arts Philharmonic Orchestra in Pretoria and is an active chamber musician.

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HELLO 2018 Maestro Jochen Rieder joins the CPO for the 12th Cape Town International Summer Music Festival in February. While the Cape Town City Hall is being renovated during the first half of 2018, concerts will take place at Artscape

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ochen Rieder, the conductor who recently made his Cape Town debut with the UCT Opera School’s production of La Cenerentola, is returning to the Mother City for the 12th Cape Town International Summer Festival in February.

Maestro Rieder started his career specialising in opera conducting and became the regular partner of the megastar, tenor Jonas Kaufmann, conducting the orchestra in most of Kaufmann’s hit DVDs. Cape Town baritone George Stevens and Rieder became friends in Bremen 20 years ago and it was Stevens who brought him to JOCHEN RIEDER Cape Town in 2017.

“40 MINUTES APPLAUSE AND FIVE ENCORES. I WILL NEVER FORGET THAT”

“When I'm doing opera I miss symphony and vice versa. But I can't live without opera and without singers. This is the basic of my musical life. But of course, after weeks in the pit, I do NEED the pure symphonic sound.”

Rieder was the first musician in his family, but his parents had a love of classical music and a huge record collection. This developed his passion

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Our Marketing and Managing Editor Shirley de Kock Gueller keeps her ear close to the ground. She has everything you need to know now. ..........................................................................

for classical music, something they both supported. Having started playing the organ in church at 13, two years later he was conducting the church choir.

He also sang in large works such as the Verdi Requiem and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony.

“Listening to the beautiful sound of a live symphony orchestra for the first time at the age of 16 set me on a classical music path -forever!”

He studied organ and conducting in Mainz and after three years he became the assistant conductor in the Opera House in Karlsruhe.

“A lot of my experience,” he says, “came from watching other conductors! Many evenings I stood in the wings, observing them. I learnt a lot!” After working in the opera houses in Bremen for 5 years and Zurich for 13, he went freelance and is loving it!

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Showing Support The Friends of Orchestral Music is an important support group for the CPO. The aims are to support the CPO and its youth orchestra and education programmes through sponsorships and bursaries.

Members benefit not only by knowing they are supporting South Africa’s oldest orchestra, but tangibly in receiving other benefits such as • An extra 10 per cent discount on CPO subscription tickets

He says that while every concert and performance is a high point for him, there have, of course, been some special events.

• Discounts for FOM soirees and the annual gala concert

“The Puccini concert at La Scala Milano with Jonas Kaufmann was one. Imagine.

Just Puccini with two Germans in Italy.

It was quite a risk but it was an enormous success: 40 minutes applause and five encores. I will never forget that.”

The CPO is, regrettably, unable to continue its practice of providing free drinks at the normal post-concert receptions. This will take effect from the first season of 2018.

•Admission to the gala post-concert reception

For more information, visit www.fomct.com

CPO still leading the way

BACKSTAGE

QnA

Fourth Len Van Zyl Conductor’s competition in progress

Pretoria-born, Rotterdam-based, globe-trotting conductor Conrad van Alphen loves coming back…

Concerto Wins Award Again!

We are crowning again! For the second year, Concerto has been selected at the SA Publisher’s Forum for FOUR awards:

But how much do you know about him?

• Excellence in Writing • Excellence in Design • Finalist for Best Publication Cover • Runner-up for Best Design

Why do you like to conduct the CPO?

I Bernhard gets the gold The latest CD made by principal guest conductor Bernhard Gueller was recently named Classical Recording of the Year by Music NovaScotia.

The CD of orchestrated songs by Schubert and the Symphony no 3 features Gueller with Symphony Nova Scotia and mezzo-soprano Andrea Ludwig.

Who is Victor Yampolsky?

Victor Yampolsky, one of the luminaries behind the Len van Zyl Conductors’ Competition, has been guest conducting in Cape Town for some 30 years.

He is Director of Orchestras at the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University in Illinois as well as Music Director of the Peninsula Music Festival in Wisconsin.

“We continue to be fortunate to have the participation of maestro Victor Yampolsky, who gives the master classes as well,” says Len van Zyl.

n 2010 the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra presented the first Len van Zyl Conductors’ Competition and created the most important platform for developing conductors in South Africa.

After three highly successful competitions we are still fulfilling this leading role in South African musical life.

the finals, after masterclasses with experienced conductors, went a long way to helping him achieve his goals.

For Xavier Cloete, it expanded his music circles immeasurably. “Music has taken me all around the world. It was always a language I could understand and it opened doors for me that will never close. The competition increased this, and winning it has made my circle of music friends grow enormously!”

Victor Yampolsky will be here in June for Chad Hendricks notes that “The Len the preliminary rounds of the 4th Len van Zyl Conductors’ Competition has van Zyl Conductors’ Competition. The provided a platform for aspiring three competitions to date have yieldconductors to develop and grow their ed great dividends, helping the career skills. The competition also allowed me paths of winners Brandon Phillips, now to believe that our dreams can resident conductor of the CPO and materialise into reality. It also allowed music director of the CPYO; Xavier me to dream bigger and believe that Cloete, resident conductor and artistic anything is possible with continual director of both the OSM Camarata focus on hard work and perseverance.

Orchestra at the University of the I am eternally grateful to Len van Zyl, Free State and Mangaung Symphony the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra Orchestra; and Chad Hendricks, and its management for creating such a resident platform for me to conductor of the continually learn, New Apostolic grow and begin Church Cape a career as a Town Orchestra conductor.” and The Cape Town Ghoema The masterclasses Orchestra. All and coaching in benefited the first CHAD HENDRICKS enormously elimination from their time in America where they rounds take place in June, with the studied with Victor Yampolsky at semi-finals and finals in February 2019 Northwestern University in Chicago which will form part of the CPO’s and spent a month with the celebrated International Summer Festival.

Philadelphia Orchestra.

Judges in the finals will be Victor Yampolsky, Bernhard Gueller, WHY ENTERING THE Richard Cock, Brandon Phillips and COMPETITION IS IMPORTANT CEO of the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, Louis Heyneman.

Brandon Phillips says that for someone More information is on the CPO website at starting out, where performance www.cpo.org.za opportunities are very hard to come by, the chance to conduct an orchestra in Entries close on January 15.

“A PLATFORM FOR ASPIRING CONDUCTORS”

Next to the highperformance level, I find the CPO a particularly kind orchestra that is very quick in transforming my gestures and ideas into music.

What’s the first thing you do when you come to Cape Town?

Go to the Waterfront and order Kingklip and a good glass of SA wine [laughs].

What music do you like, classics aside?

Music from any genre or discipline where the creativity and expertise of the composition results in beauty.

How do you make your Sinfonia Rotterdam relevant to the city of Rotterdam?

By running carefully programmed and well-sold concert series and consequently bridging the summer period with outdoor and pop-up concerts on the water and in all corners of the city; by collaborating with other disciplines specific to Rotterdam, such as dance and spoken word; by actively involving the City Council and the Rotterdam business world in our events.

What do you miss most about South Africa?

The light, the colours and the humour.

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The future is coming in from three sides; here's what to expect.

YOUTH EXTRAVAGANZA

By SHIRLEY DE KOCK GUELLER Photo by STEFANO BOTTESI

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The recent and overwhelming artistic and audience successes the CPO has had with rising stars is phenomenal … and has led to more young people being identified on their way up.

We have been fortunate to sign up many top competition winners — Dmitri Masleev, winner of the Tchaikovsky Piano Competition and Daniel Kharitonov, who took third place, both in 2015. We have had pianist Lukáš Vondrácek, before and after he won the Queen Elisabeth Competition in 2016, cellist Santiago Cañon Valencia before he took 3rd place in the Queen Elisabeth in 2017, cellist Alexey Stadler who won Tonali in Hamburg along with prize-winners pianist Sophie Pacini and violinist Marina Grauman. Coming in May will be Russian cellist Alexander Buzlov, who won a silver medal in the Tchaikovsky a few years ago. We also performed superb concerts with two young rising stars in violinist Alexander Gilman’s circle — the violinist David Nebel and cellist Danielle Akta. Qden Blaauw, 14, also performed with the CPO in a concert at Artscape, with the CPO’s oldest ever soloist, 74-year-old Reggie Dreyer, making his debut.

The CPO’s artistic manager Sergei Burdukov has forged a special relationship with the Harrison Parrott concert agency and its international offices, and will continue with that agency, and others, to seek out and identify talent on the way up. This follows a tradition that the orchestra in Cape Town has kept up over many decades giving a platform to musicians like Nigel Kennedy, Andras Schiff, Mitsuko Uchida and Mischa Maisky before they became household names!

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2 3 The CPO’s youth education and development portfolio is thriving, thanks to the commitment and expertise of co-ordinator Marvin Weavers and Masidlale managers Odile Burden and Ash-lee Louwskieter, and their teams of teachers. With about 70 learners in each youth orchestra, 107 in Masidlale and 120 in the CPO Music Academy, there’s no doubt that the programmes, which identify and train gifted musicians, have a place in the orchestras of the future.

In the recent past

• The Wind Ensemble’s mind-blowing combined concert with the Junge Bläserphilharmonie of Ulm at the New Apostolic Church in Athlone

• The angels of Masidlale, strings and woodwinds, brought tears to the eyes of the audience at the opening of the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival, and again as a curtain raiser to Jazz in the Native Yards in Langa in October

Coming up • The gala concert of all aspects of the CPO’s youth development from the Academy to Masidlale and the Youth Orchestra and Wind Bands will perform on December 2 at the Hugo Lambrechts Music Centre in Parow

• The CPYO has again been engaged to play in the Suidoosterfees — the concert will be broadcast live on April 26 at Artscape • The CPYO and Rotary will again present a celebratory gala, at Artscape on May 20, 2018 The CPO also honours its commitment to the Len van Zyl Conductors’ Competition by engaging young soloists to perform with the CPO under the direction of the finalists.

To date, young South Africans such as pianists Sulayman Human, Leo Gevisser and Shaheel Kooverjee and violinist Jeffrey Armstrong have performed with the CPO.

"a tradition we've kept up for many decades"

Alexander Buzlov, silver medallist at the Tchaikovsky Competition

Rising Stars ODILE BURDEN

JOSHUA LOUIS

Odile Burden is an example of the transfer of skills so central to the CPO’s core. Nearly 20 years ago, in 1999, when she was just nine, she attended her first CPO youth orchestra camp. In 2003, she joined the CPYO and became concertmaster in 2007. This, she says, gave her many performance opportunities with the CPO itself, and in 2011 she joined the CPO on its tour to America. She is now a regular ad hoc member of the CPO.

For Joshua Louis, the CPYO’s concertmaster, the most compelling aspect of the CPYO is how it brings together people of such diverse backgrounds, uniting them in a common goal: to produce music that touches the hearts and souls of all who hear it.

She began her violin studies at the age of five; she graduated from Stellenbosch with a BMus and MMus. Odile continued to study in Oslo and, in 2016, graduated from the Barratt Due Institute of Music with a Postgraduate Diploma in Music Education, specialising in violin pedagogy.

She is currently the education manager of the Masidlale Grassroots Training Project. Odile is keeping music in the family – her mother Felicia Lesch, is a lecturer at the University of Stellenbosch and board member of the CPO, and her husband saxophonist Liam Burden, is a teacher at Hugo Lambrechts Music Centre.

“Having grown up in a family of educators, my own contribution to society is naturally education. Youth development projects such as the CPYO, have played a monumental role in my own development. It is a tremendous privilege to be able to extend the opportunities previously afforded to me, to the youth of today,” she says.

Aged nine, Joshua Louis commenced his violin tuition at the Beau Soleil Music Centre and is currently pursuing a BMus at UCT’s SA College of Music. He has participated in courses such as the Franschhoek Chamber Music Workshop and the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival and had masterclasses with Olivier Charlier and Madeline Adkins.

He is also a member of the Bokamosho String Quartet and as a member of the SQ he won the Stellenbosch National Ensemble Competition.

He has been a member of the Cape Town Philharmonic Youth Orchestra since 2013 and he says the CPYO has served as a great source of learning and inspiration — from learning to lead an orchestra to working with a number of renowned conductors such as Bernhard Gueller. As the Concert Master of the CPYO, Joshua has received, on loan, a copy of a Bergonzi Violin and a Hill violin bow.

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Since inception, over one thousand young people have been part of YDEP. In 2017 alone, YDEP made a difference to the lives of 352 youngsters from 6 to 25.

It contributed to the economy by creating income for 23 job-seekers; supported four music students, two of whom are at university, one is working and training to be a music theory teacher, and the fourth is working and training to be a luthier.

Many YDEP students have been able to carve out careers within the industry: • 2 students trained as music librarians, one of whom has a position with Cape Town Opera • 5 interns were trained in arts management • 3 youth orchestra musicians are employed to train students in Masidlale projects • 13 conductors have undergone training • 9 young musicians are employed to teach in the Music Academy

MUSIC EDUCATION

By SUZANNE AUCAMP Business Development and Fundraising Executive

It's the key to growing the arts.

Mastering an instrument adds a sense of achievement, of value and of self-worth.

Poverty is not a reason not to help children become well-rounded individuals.

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early four million South African children are from low-income families. With such high levels of poverty causing despair and even hopelessness, we are forced to ask the question: Is it worth engaging children from poverty-stricken communities in the serious arts?

The answer is a resounding yes.

Poverty is not a reason not to help children become well-rounded individuals, able to contribute to society. To contribute, a child needs to be connected to others and being

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connected helps one to feel good.

Mastering an instrument adds a sense of achievement, of value and of self-worth. What better way to feel connected than to be a member of an orchestra; to perform for family and friends; to be part of a cultural tradition that contributes to the common good?

Fifteen years ago, the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra initiated its Youth Development and Education Programme (YDEP) to provide a sense of meaning and purpose to learners as young as six. YDEP provides arts education via four initiatives: the Cape Town Philharmonic Music Academy, the Cape Town Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (CPYO), the Cape Town Philharmonic Youth Wind Ensemble (CPYWE) and the Masidlale strings and woodwinds grassroots projects.

As YDEP has grown, so has our vision. In the absence of music in schools, our ambition is to train qualified music teachers and place them at schools in the community for the benefit of children from poverty-stricken communities.

Globally, public funding for the arts is under threat. We have been fortunate that YDEP has been sustainable due to support received from all levels of government, foundations, trusts and private citizens. With their grants, foundations and trusts can influence programmes based on community priorities. However, because of the investment each supporter has made to a child in YDEP, priorities should

be determined.

Based on our experience, what are the priorities?

Peter Dobrin, culture writer on The Inquirer, in Philadelphia, USA, describes the value of arts education: “…An arts education is intrinsically valuable. … Each arts experience is like falling into a web whose strands lead to other worlds. Listen to Debussy, and you can be led to Ravel, Fauré, Nadia Boulanger, and the entire Paris Conservatoire tradition. Go another way, and the path from Debussy takes you to Maeterlinck, Poe, or Edmund Dulac. Listen to some of his piano pieces, and you’ve stepped outside of Western music altogether and are considering the Gamelan. Other works deliver you to the end of traditional harmony.”

• Funding for more than a year at a time to allow forplanning, job creation and internships • Investment in talent from deprived communities, particularly for lessons, and other training opportunities • Promoting the arts, and specifically, the performance of music in public places • Improved infrastructure and access to facilities where the arts can flourish

Contact Suzanne Aucamp, Business Development and Fundraising Executive, at suzanne@cpo.org.za, if you want to invest in the future and secure the present.

• Research to measure the outcomes of YDEP and better align our arts education with the needs of communities; to evaluate what is available and what is needed; and measuring how music education improves grades, reduces stress, or promotes social intelligence.

Most heartening, and valuable for CPO is the atmosphere of collegiality among our donors and partners and the level of trust placed in us to make a difference to society, doing what we love most – making music. Our commitment to our supporters and funders is to build capacity – not only to capture the best talent out there, but also to engage those who will eventually end up in front of the stage – as listeners, board members and donors.

Sponsors make concerts such as these possible, building a sense of self-worth. amongst our young learners.

A FAMILY AFFAIR Regular visiting pianist Antonio Pompa-Baldi

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oon after winning the Cleveland International Piano Competition nearly 20 years ago, Italian pianist Antonio Pompa-Baldi settled in America with his wife, Emanuela Friscioni. Emanuela is also a pianist and they often play together at festivals.

Festivals are great, he believes, when they focus on what they offer to young musicians in terms of the learning experience. So he established the Todi International Music Masters Summer Festival in Italy, which allows young musicians to gain performance experience.

“The interaction with the conductor and with a group of musicians can only be learned through experience, so offering the opportunity serves our young musicians well,” he says.

He should know – he and Emanuela have a cellist daughter, Eleanor Pompa, 12, who is already good enough to perform publicly and gain such experience.

“THE ONLY COMPETITION IS ONESELF... TO TAP INTO ONE’S INNERMOST FEELINGS AND SHARE THEM" “It’s too early to say whether she’ll become a professional musician, but she loves music and is thinking about making a career of it. For now, she entered a couple of small competitions, which went well and provided some nice experience for the future.

“Competitions are a good testing ground for musicians,” he says, “if they approach them purely as performance opportunities, rather than playing to win. The only competition is with oneself, to try and tap into one’s innermost feelings and share them with the listeners.”

This is his fifth visit to the Cape Town Philharmonic, where he has a popular following after his performances of the complete Rachmaninov Concertos and Paganini Rhapsody. His discography is extensive – he has recorded more than 20 CDs and the number keeps increasing.

Pompa-Baldi, who was also a top prize-winner at the 1998 Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud Competition in Paris, and the 2001 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, knows about competitions from both sides. He is now regularly on the jury of the most important ones, such as the Cleveland, as well as the Hilton Head Piano Competition in South Carolina, the International Edvard Grieg Piano Competition in Bergen, Norway, the E-Competition in Minneapolis, and the San Jose International Piano Competition.

His next album is a set of Neapolitan songs arranged in virtuoso elaborations for the piano. Its release by the Steinway label is scheduled early in 2018.

A Steinway Artist, he also teaches at the Cleveland Institute between engagements that take him around the world.

Antonio Pompa-Baldi will be a soloist in the Autumn Symphony Season in May performing the Respighi Piano Concerto in A minor.

09

CONCERT CALENDAR Book your tickets early for our upcoming symphonies

12 International Summer Music Festival 01 15 th

FEBRUARY

FEBRUARY

8PM ARTSCAPE OPERA

8PM ARTSCAPE OPERA

CONDUCTOR JOCHEN RIEDER SOLOIST DMITRY MASLEEV (PIANO)

CONDUCTOR JOCHEN RIEDER SOLOIST CHRISTINA BRABETZ (VIOLIN)

BERNSTEIN Overture, Candide SAINT-SAËNS Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor LISZT Rhapsody Espagnole NIELSEN Symphony No. 4, “The Inextinguishable”

ANTONI SCHONKEN to be: to know (world premiere) SHOSTAKOVICH Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor PROKOFIEV Romeo and Juliette Suite

German conductor JOCHEN RIEDER has conducted many leading international orchestras from the Royal and London Philharmonic orchestras in London to the Opera Orchestra of Australia in Sydney, in many of the world’s foremost concert halls. These include the Philharmonie of Berlin, La Scala in Milan, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and the Royal Festival Hall. He has made several CDs and DVDs with the tenor Jonas Kaufmann, as well as one with Swedish baritone Peter Mattei.

Winner of the 2015 International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, DMITRY MASLEEV has embarked on a career that reinforces what the critics have been saying …. “ brilliant” and “Virtuosity was offset by magical tenderness”. He has made his debut at Carnegie Hall and his artistry is in ever-increasing demand around the world.

18

FEBRUARY

08

8PM ARTSCAPE OPERA

FEBRUARY

CONDUCTOR JOCHEN RIEDER SOLOIST DANIEL RÖHN (VIOLIN)

8PM ARTSCAPE OPERA

KODALY Concerto for Orchestra SZYMANOWSKI Violin Concerto No. 2 DVORAK Symphony No. 9 in E minor, “ From the New World”

CONDUCTOR JOCHEN RIEDER SOLOIST MUZA RUBAKYTE (PIANO) SCHUBERT Symphony No. 3 in D SCHUBERT-LISZT Wanderer Fantasy SCHUBERT/LUCIANO BERIO Rendering

10

CHRISTINA BRABETZ grew up in Cape Town and began playing violin at the age of 5.

Later, she moved to Germany to study where she is now considered to be one of that country’s most promising young artists. In 2010, she won the prestigious Tonali Grand Prix in Hamburg.

She has played with many leading orchestras such as the Nuremberg Symphony and Amsterdam Chamber Orchestra. She made her debut at the Konserthaus in Vienna while on tour with the Göttinger Symphony Orchestra. She performs on a Giambattista Guadagnini violin (Turin, 1779). She is also a passionate chamber musician and has already performed at Verbier and other festivals.

The Lithuanian pianist MUZA RUBACKYTE has released more than 30 CDs in her stellar career which includes such challenges as playing the complete "Years of Pilgrimage" in Bayreuth. She is the Grand Prize winner of the Liszt-Bartok International Piano Competition in Budapest and the Concours International Les Grands Maîtres Français in Paris. She regularly appears with orchestras and in festivals around the world.

With engagements in the offing with Zubin Mehta and Gustavo Dudamel, DANIEL RÖHN is being fêted for his “impressive technical brilliance,” “musicality, seemingly effortless virtuosity and pithy, luminous tone”. His career takes him across Europe where he has performed with conductors such as Esa Pekka Salonen, Lorin Maazel and Riccardo Muti and in venues such as the Wigmore Hall and Carnegie Hall. He comes of a strong musical family – his father holds and his grandfather held concertmaster positions with two of the top orchestras in Germany – the Bavarian Radio Symphony and the Berlin Philharmonic under Fürtwengler. His CD, The Kreisler Story, was acclaimed by BBC Music for its “silvery tonal purity and exquisite subtlety of phrasing”.

25 FEB

20 MAY

2, 16, 23 AND 30 AUGUST

Community Cross-over concert

CPYO Rotary Gala

WINTER SEASON

ARTSCAPE THEATRE

ARTSCAPE THEATRE

CITY HALL (HOPEFULLY)

Musical icons of the City celebrate our heritage with Brandon Phillips. 18:00.

Join Brandon Phillips and the CPYO in this spectactular concert focusing on the brilliance of the young. 19:30.

Full details with principal guest conductor Bernhard Gueller coming! Plus ... The appearance of a top international orchestra!

CONCERT INFO

.

Concert information correct at the time of going to press. Please check cpo.org.za.

Subscribe to the newsletter, email info@cpo.org.za or phone 021 410 9809 for updates.

Autumn Symphony

31

14

8PM ARTSCAPE OPERA

8PM ARTSCAPE OPERA

MAY

JUNE

CONDUCTOR CONRAD VAN ALPHEN SOLOIST ANTONIO POMPA-BALDI (PIANO)

CONDUCTOR: VICTOR YAMPOLSKY SOLOIST SPENCER MYER (PIANO)

RACHMANINOV “The Isle of the Dead” RESPIGHI Piano Concerto MUSSORGSKY/RAVEL Pictures at an Exhibition

TCHAIKOVSKY Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 4 in G PROKOFIEV Symphony No. 7 in C-sharp minor

The South African-born Dutch conductor CONRAD VAN ALPHEN is artistic director of the Sinfonia Rotterdam. He is also a frequent guest conductor in Germany, Holland and South Africa as well as other countries around the world. He is an artist of the Moscow Philharmonic Society, and as such he regularly conducts the major Moscow orchestras and many more throughout Russia. He has taken the Russian National Orchestra and the Sinfonia Rotterdam on several international tours. His many CDs have received excellent reviews all over.

Renowned conducting pedagogue VICTOR YAMPOLSKY studied violin with the legendary David Oistrakh at the Moscow Conservatoire, as well as conducting with the Nicolai Rabinovich at the Leningrad Conservatory. He joined the Boston Symphony in the violin section, and then in 1977 became music director of the Atlantic Symphony in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Born in Italy, ANTONIO POMPA-BALDI won the Cleveland International Piano Competition in 1999 and embarked on a career that continues to extend across five continents.

A top prize winner at the 1998 Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud Competition of Paris, France, Pompa-Baldi also won a silver medal at the 2001 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.

A Steinway artist, Mr. Pompa-Baldi is on the piano faculty of the Cleveland Institute of Music.

He also serves on the juries of many international competitions. His discography, constantly growing, includes 20 CDs as well as the Hummel Piano Sonatas. With a popular following in Cape Town, where he has played all the Rachmaninov Concertos and the Paganini Rhapsody, this marks Pompa-Baldi’s 5th visit to the CPO alone.

He is now professor at the Northwestern University Bienen School of Music in Chicago, where he moulds a significant number of young conductors. While in South Africa he will give masterclasses at the 4th Len van Zyl Conductors’ Competition. Yampolsky has conducted more than 90 different symphony orchestras worldwide.

Lauded for "superb playing" and "poised, alert musicianship" by The Boston Globe, SPENCER MYER has won several top prizes from the First Prize in the 2004 UNISA International Piano Competition to the the Gold Medal at the 2008 New Orleans International Piano Competition. He is also a laureate of others such as the Cleveland and Busoni international piano competitions. A Steinway Artist, he has released several CDs. He performs world wide with orchestra and in recital.

07

21

8PM ARTSCAPE OPERA

8PM ARTSCAPE OPERA

JUNE

JUNE

CONDUCTOR CONRAD VAN ALPHEN SOLOIST NIKITA BORISO-GLEBSKY (VIOLIN)

CONDUCTOR: VICTOR YAMPOLSKY SOLOIST ALEXANDER BUZLOV (CELLO)

BEETHOVEN Overture, Fidelio TCHAIKOVSKY Violin Concerto in D SIBELIUS Symphony No. 1 in E minor

WAGNER Overture, Rienzi WILLIAM WALTON Cello Concerto VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Symphony No. 5 in D

The grand prize winner of the 2010 International Jean Sibelius and the International Fritz Kreisler violin competitions and a major winner at others such as the Tchaikovsky and Queen Elisabeth, NIKITA BORISO-GLEBSKY is considered to be one of the foremost Russian violinists of his generation. He has performed with many major orchestras in Europe, Asia and America under the baton of renowned conductors such as Valery Gergiev and Krzysztof Penderecki and collaborated with musicians such as Seiji Ozawa, Gidon Kremer, Yuri Bashmet and David Geringas. He is also a sought-after artist at festivals such as Menton, Beethovenfest Bonn and Stars of the White Nights in Saint Petersburg. His previous appearance with the CPO brought prolonged ovations and critical acclaim for his technique and musicality.

When the New York Times calls you “.. A cellist of true Russian tradition, possessing a great gift to make an instrument sing, bewitching the audience with his sound”, then you have arrived!

ALEXANDER BUZLOV has won many gold and silver medals in some of the world’s most important cello competitions such as the Tchaikovsky. He studied at the Moscow Conservatoire and the Hochschüle in Cologne before and has worked with conductors from Gergiev and Spivakov to Paavo Järvi. He has also collaborated with musicians such as Yuri Bashmet, Vadim Repin, Martha Argerich and Dmitry Sitkovetsky. He takes part in international festivals including Verbier.

11

Artscape Opera House Seating plan STAGE

C ▼ Z

AA ▼ HH

Tickets R180

R230

R150

R90

Cover shoot by Steven Booth taken at Winchester Mansions, Gabriele von Dürckheim, Khanya Pulumani & Richard Otto

LISTENING TO THE FUTURE

Booking Details PRE-CONCERT TALKS

Before most symphony concerts at 19:15 in the Opera Bar — open to ticket holders.

LEARNING FROM THE PRESENT

W

ith some 400 young people in the CPO’s youth education and development projects, and with teachers from the ranks of the CPO and CPYO itself, there’s no doubt that transfer of skills and transformation of both orchestra and audience is a priority. We are proud that we are reflecting the diversity of our country as we go forward.

Richard Otto, 17 and a Grade 12 learner at Blackheath High, is now principal bassoon with the CPYWE. Richard grew up with the organ, but at the age of 14, just three years ago, he was introduced to the bassoon by a family friend and he became obsessed with its sound and beauty. He registered at the Cape Town Philharmonic Music Academy and met Charl van der Merwe, a teacher there and an ad hoc player in the CPO, who taught and nurtured him. The result: in 2015 he became principal bassoon and plays on an instrument that the CPO has loaned to him, thanks to his talent, his dedication and what he brings to the orchestra. For him, the CPYWE has had “such a positive impact in my life” and having his own instrument has allowed him to “pursue my journey in CPYWE”.

Masidlale has given Khanya Pulumani the most amazing ride in the four years this 10-year-old from Zenzeleni Centre for Creative Education in Khayelitsha

Dates to Diarise

JAN 18, 19, 20 Shakespeare in the Park Maynardville, Wynberg

DRESS REHEARSALS

has ever had. She loves coming to lessons at Artscape as part of the Masidlale grassroots project. Her potential was noticed at her school and she was recruited into the project and has never looked back. “She took amazingly quickly to the violin, “says her teacher, Tembisa Ntongontshi Stevens, “Khanya is a dedicated learner who has a bright future as a violinist. She plays with expression and is committed to her violin lessons. She is goal-oriented and strives to achieve her goals. We hope she will make a career in music and see her in the CPO one day itself.”

Usually at 12 am on concert days.

RENEWALS & SUBCRIPTIONS

All renewals must be made through Artscape Dial-A-Seat on 021 421 7695.

New subscriptions and single seat bookings from Dial-A-Seat or any Computicket outlet 0861 915 8000 / www.computicket.com

Gabriele von Dürckheim has been principal flute with the CPO since 2002. She is well aware of the value of music education. Gabriele received her first flute lessons from Eva Tamassy while still at primary school in Stellenbosch, completed her Higher Licentiate at the University of Stellenbosch and then continued her studies in England with renowned flautist Trevor Wye. Aware that she was privileged to have these lessons, Gabriele recently mounted a crowdfunding campaign to help raise the necessary funds to send her CPO ad hoc flautist and colleague Gareth Cederes to benefit from the same teacher in the UK. She has won several prizes over her career and now also teaches at the UCT College of Music, the German International School in Cape Town, and SACS. She has regularly performed as soloist and ensemble player, and has also been a member of several orchestras, including the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra and the South African National Youth Orchestra.

FEB 11 The CPO at Kirstenbosch Featuring Brandon Phillips & violinist Christina Brabetz

MAR 2, 3 Starlight Classics Vergelegen Wine Estate

12TH INTERNATIONAL CAPE TOWN SUMMER MUSIC FESTIVAL

Subscription renewals can be made until December 7; new subscriptions and single seats on sale from December 1.

AUTUMN SYMPHONY SEASON

Subscription renewals can be made from March 1 to 15; new subscriptions and single seats on sale from March 22.

STUDENT AND SENIOR CITIZENS

Only pay R90 if still available 30 min before concert at the door.

Subscribe, save 20 per cent (30 per cent for members of FOM).

Single seats from R230 to R90.

More information www.cpo.org.za, info@cpo.org.za or 021 410 9809

8 MAR TO 22 APR West Side Story for the Fugard Theatre at Artscape Opera