Concerto Issue 16

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 PE T OW N PH I L H A R MON IC ORC H E S T R A #I S S U E 16

PLÁCIDO DOMINGO IN CAPE TOWN

CO N C ERTO EDITORIAL TEAM

SO

C I S S CLA

CHIEF EXECUTIVE & ARTISTIC DIRECTOR LOUIS HEYNEMAN louis@cpo.org.za

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LE LUDE IS A PROUD SUPPORTER OF THE CAPE TOWN PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

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fter more than two years of a forced hiatus, Concerto Magazine is back! But, in the spirit of our digital era, it won't be printed anymore. It will miraculously appear on your phone, tablet, desktop or laptop. Here then, is the first edition after the pandemic.

We are proud to present to 04 Cape Town: Plácido Domingo

and Operalia, the world's foremost competition for young opera singers.

Matthijs van Dijk's brand-new 06 violin concerto opens our

Winter Symphony Season. Matthijs and violinist Jeffrey Armstrong represent a new generation of classical musicians in South Africa.

meant disas08 terTheforpandemic so many musicians.

Conrad Asman, the 2022/3 winner, with conductor Jeremy Silver.

COMPOSER WRAP

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SA COMPOSERS’ COMPETITION

ollowing the success of the inaugural SA Composers’ Competition which culminated in a concert on March 4, 2023 with five short-listed compositions, German philanthropist and entrepreneur Alexander Valentin stepped in to sponsor the next round — an exchange between a composer selected by the CPO’s German partner, the junge norddeutsche philharmonie (jnp) and the winner of the Alexander South African Composers’ Award.

finalists’ concert for the 2023-4 competition in March 2024, where the SA winner will be chosen. At that same concert, the new piece commissioned of Conrad Asman, the winner of the 2022-3 competition, will be performed.

The winner of the CPO competition will receive a cash prize of R50 000 and a new commission to be performed in a period as composer-in-residence. Only those composers who are resident in SA will be brought to Cape Town for the finalists’ concert.

The CPO carefully planned, cut activities and streamed its way into the future, an international pioneer.

And here we are ... back in full swing.

The Winter Symphony 10 Season brings you a mini

Rachmaninov Festival, celebrating 150 years since the composer's birth.

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The Spring Symphony ends with "An African Celebration", showcasing soloists and choral singers from Khayelitsha in a symphony concert, a first in orchestra's history.

Maestro Robert Maxym, the 15 man behind the musical

awakening of uShaka, is a man with a mission.

Cape Town's young 16 musicians are going places.

To transfer musical skills to a young generation is one of our core goals.

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Entries for the 2023-4 competition close on August 31.

The winner of the jnp competition will have his/her work performed at the

ENTER HERE cpo.org.za/composers

LOUIS HEYNEMAN

CHIEF EXECUTIVE & ARTISTIC DIRECTOR CAPE TOWN PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

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TWO

ICONS

PLÁCIDO DOMINGO & CAPE TOWN Operalia, the world's foremost opera competition, is coming for the first time to Africa, hosted by the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, Cape Town Opera and Artscape.

05 Plácido Domingo and soprano Pretty Yende, who won in 2011.

“This is a major achievement for Cape Town and our orchestra.

In a time that the arts in Cape Town are recovering after Covid, the world recognises that Cape Town and its renowned companies can compete successfully with important international cultural centres.”

DEREK AURET CHAIRMAN OF THE CAPE TOWN PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

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he 30th anniversary of Operalia, The World Opera Competition, presented

by Rolex, is coming to Cape Town, joining world cultural centres such as London, Madrid, Milan, Hamburg and Paris, as host cities. It was thanks in great part to Kamal Khan, the former director of Opera UCT, who ignited the idea, and made the introductions. For Khan, who has been on the Operalia team as vocal coach and accompanist and more recently also assisting the iconic tenor-turned baritone Maestro Plácido Domingo with conducting, knew immediately that this would be an ideal partnership.

Then Cape Town Opera and Artscape Theatre Centre came on board to join the Cape Town Philharmonic.

Sponsorships were and are sought — Southern Sun’s Cullinan Hotel will provide accommodation for the entire Operalia group with optimal rates.

The competition will run at Artscape from October 30, culminating in a grand final concert on November 5.

The quarter finals will take place at Artscape on Monday, October 30 and Tuesday, October 31, with the semi-finals

happening on Wednesday, November 1.

These preliminary audition stages will be accompanied by piano. Tickets will be available, in the upstairs balcony only.

The final concert will be on Sunday, November 5 at 18:00 with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra — all tickets will be available online and also at Artscape Dial-A-Seat 021 421 7695 from late July.

Plácido Domingo established Operalia “to discover and help launch the careers of the most promising young opera singers of today”. All participants are between the ages of 20 and 32, and the ones chosen for this competition have been auditioned from among hundreds of applicants. More than R3,7 million will be awarded in prizes.

This is the competition that set both Pretty Yende (2011) and Levy Sekgapane (2017) on international trajectories.

They both also won the International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition, which was also held in Cape Town with the CPO. Other prominent winners of Operalia over the years include Joseph Calleja, Lise Davidsen, Joyce DiDonato, Ludovic Tézier, Erick Owens, Rolando Villazon and Sonya Yoncheva.

THE WORLD IS BEGGING FOR

CAPE TOWN

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atthijs van Dijk is one of South Africa’s foremost composers of the younger generation and his works have been performed by orchestras, chamber groups and solo instrumentalists both here and abroad.

Following a concert at Stellenbosch University’s Endler Hall celebrating the 70th anniversary of illustrious composer Peter-Louis van Dijk conducted by Xandi van Dijk and featuring Junita van Dijk with Peter-Louis, Xandi and Matthijs van Dijk in a pre-concert talk, most of the family will be in Cape Town with the CPO on June 1 for the performance of Matthijs’ Concerto for Violin and Orchestra. (And this is the end of a two-week period of performances of his string quartet movement “(rage) rage against the” by Xandi’s Signum Quartet at the Library of Congress concert series, Princeton University, and Carnegie Hall and then “R62” which was premiered in an allSouth African programme with the Munich Chamber Orchestra.

In 2021, after Jeffrey Armstrong had won the UNISA Competition with a programme that included a sonata he commissioned of Matthijs (inspired by blues and heavy metal), he suggested Matthijs write a concerto for violin. “Well, actually…” was Matthijs’ reply, and sent Jeffrey a concerto he'd completed in 2015 as a “thank you for your support” present for violinists Patrick Goodwin and Marc Uys, who are now working in Canada and managing the Princeton

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“WHAT IF A NIGHTCLUB USED AN ORCHESTRA INSTEAD OF A DJ?” — M AT TH IJ S VA N D IJ K

Symphony Orchestra respectively.

Matthijs is thrilled that Jeffrey, who was the CPYO concertmaster before leaving SA to study in Europe, has been engaged to premiere the work with the CPO. “Besides for being a sensitive performer and extremely musical violinist, his dedication to South African compositions and composers is strong and highly commendable. Having heard him now perform some of my chamber music a few times with his Cape Chamber Music Collective (as well as lead the SICMF Symphony Orchestra in a performance of my overture “Dance.”, which quotes snippets of this concerto), I am very excited to see how he approaches this piece, as he will no doubt bring the rock 'n roll flare it demands.”

While on paper a concerto for violin, written in the traditional form of three movements, “it’s more like Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra in which every section of the orchestra has a spotlight shone on it at some point.

“Stylistically, I lean very heavily towards contemporary and popular music gestures (specifically rock and electronic dance music), blending them with art music gestures in a similar way Leonard Bernstein would use jazz in his works.

Emphasising this, I include a modernised 'rock band' version of a 'Basso Continuo' ensemble, comprised of electric bass,

piano and drum kit (with the solo violin filling the role as the ‘lead guitarist’).

“The whole work deals with questions of identity, with the first ‘movement’ specifically being about me grappling with my own musical identity as a ‘classical composer’, having embraced my love for rock 'n roll in my classical pieces more overtly around the time of writing the concerto, and how I fit within the South African classical landscape. I channelled my frustration at the time of having a lot to say as a composer, but no place to say it, with newer works often ignored in favour of the usual canon of classical composers (with those included usually not being from beyond the 1950s, such as Shostakovich — who I parody in this piece even though I'm a massive fan), and performances of new South African compositions feeling like a rarity.

“The second ‘movement’, in contrast, is a love letter to my partner at the time, who had encouraged me to write the piece. I based it around an unfinished song I had written for her, which, due to her Irish heritage, had a slight nod to an Irish-ish folk song. The last ‘movement’ is heavily inspired by my then obsession with classical music being performed in bars, a performance practice I experienced while living in New York.

This led to me writing quite a few works based on the idea of “What if a nightclub used an orchestra instead of a DJ?”

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THE PANDE MIC T H AT A LMOS T SILENCED US

M 01 Jordan Brooks returned to

perform the Korngold Violin Concerto under the direction of Jeremy Silver

02 Principal flute Gabriele von

Dürckheim was a soloist in a time that allowed the CPO to present more of its own outstanding musicians

03 Social distancing required the

use of masks and Perspex cabinets amongst the woodwinds, with the brass seated in the choir stalls

04 Maria du Toit was one of the very few international artists who were able to travel in times when restrictions were lifted

05 The CPO continued to present

community galas, either filmed and streamed or filmed in front of a small audience and then streamed

06 Magda de Vries is South Africa’s foremost marimba player

The 'uncertain' four seasons The CPO was invited to be part of the COP26 in Glasgow, performing a computerised adaptation of the Vivaldi masterpiece, The Four Seasons, modified to local climate change conditions and renamed The Uncertain Four Seasons and streamed live.

...but not quite

arch 2020 brought the world to a standstill, but not the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra.

Working from home initially, the orchestra and the youth orchestras soon reinvented themselves, and the CPO established itself as a pioneer in all things digital.

First came videos, made on cell phones at home and edited to make a seamless whole … From Nkosi Sikelel ‘iAfrika to Lockdown Waltz with Cape Town City Ballet dancers on rooftops, to a CNN documentary about our young Masidlale and other learners having online lessons at home to chamber music concerts, appearances in the virtual National Arts Festival and to one of the most streamed orchestras in the world.

Trumpet Concerto), Petrus Coetzee (Grové and Mozart Sinfonia Concertante with guest concertmaster Suzanne Martens), Lisa White (Mozart Oboe Concerto), Roxane Steffen (Stephenson Burlesque for Double Bass), Peter Martens (Elgar Cello Concerto), Brandon Phillips (Mozart Bassoon Concerto), with principal guest conductor Bernhard Gueller doing the lion’s share, supported by Jeremy Silver and Arjan Tien. One of the highlights in the period was recording The Uncertain Four Seasons (the Vivaldi masterpiece reimagined) which, with a message from Tasneem Essop, the executive director of Climate Action Network International, and soloists Farida Bacharova, Suzanne Martens, Philip Martens and Samantha Durrant, reinforced the hazards of climate change and was viewed internationally during COP26 in Glasgow. To replace schools’ concerts, we made a video, The Instruments of the Orchestra.

CPO ESTABLISHED ITSELF AS A PIONEER IN ALL THINGS DIGITAL

More than 20 concerts were produced; videographed in front of no audience but the video crew, stage crew and a couple of members of the management team, a small audience as restrictions changed and back to no audience and then streamed on the Quicket platform, attracting thousands of viewers (and huge compliments) from across the world. Two variety galas were also produced, in which scores of young performers from all walks of life performed with a symphony orchestra for the first time.

It was a time for our own musicians to shine — soloists included principals Gabriele von Dürckheim (Nielsen Flute Concerto and Grové Concertino for Viola and Flute), Shannon Thebus (Strauss Horn Concerto), David Thompson (Haydn

From wearing masks to building protective Perspex cabinets and social distancing, Covid requirements made working conditions hazardous and the CPO was the first arts organisation to mandate vaccinations for its musicians and, as concerts opened up, so did its audiences. Illness took its toll on musicians and audiences alike, and we sadly lost a number of concertgoers, and performed Nimrod for those who have left us.

The CPO remains grateful to its subscribers who donated their subscriptions from the first cancelled season, and to all those who supported the CPO during these difficult times.

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WINTER CONCERTS

01 - 22 JUNE

BRANDON PHILLIPS CONDUCTOR

JEFFREY ARMSTRONG VIOLIN SOLOIST

TCHAIKOVSKY CAPRICCIO ITALIEN, OP. 45

MATTHIJS VAN DIJK

VIOLIN CONCERTO WORLD PREMIERE

MOZART SYMPHONY

NO. 41 IN C, K. 551, "THE JUPITER"

EMANUIL IVANOV

PIANO SOLOIST

RACHMANINOV RHAPSODY ON A THEME OF PAGANINI, OP. 43

MAHLER

SYMPHONY NO. 4 IN G

THURSDAY 19H30 CITY HALL

JEFFREY ARMSTRONG, the 2021 UNISA National Strings Competition winner, is completing his MMus in violin at the Hochschule für Musik, Tanz und Medien in Hannover, Germany with Elisabeth Kufferath. Before leaving to study in Birmingham, the CPYO’s former concertmaster performed in Europe, South Africa, with the Cape Chamber Collective and he recorded for the BBC. He has performed with all the South African orchestras and was the soloist with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra and Sir Roger Norrington on its tour of South Africa.

CONDUCTOR

SCHERZO IN D MINOR

JUNE

BRANDON PHILLIPS, the CPO’s resident conductor, is also head of winds and the orchestras at the University of Cape Town. A multi-talented musician, he won the inaugural SA Conductors’ Competition, and was the CPO’s principal bassoon for many years. He is a regular ballet conductor, adjudicator and took the Cape Town Philharmonic Youth Orchestra to great heights during his tenure.

ARJAN TIEN

RACHMANINOV

01

08 JUNE

THURSDAY 19H30 CITY HALL

ARJAN TIEN, professor of conducting at the Maastricht and Amsterdam Conservatoires, is artistic supervisor and chairman of the jury of the South African Conductor's Competition, mentoring the winners in The Netherlands. He won first prize “Rotary-Faller” at the International Conducting Master Class in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland 1997. He is the principal conductor of the VU Orchestra in Amsterdam and principal conductor and artistic director of the Royal Netherlands Navy Marine Band. As a regular favourite with orchestras and audiences in South Africa, he celebrates his 25th conductor’s anniversary in 2023.

EMANUIL IVANOV attracted international attention after receiving the first prize at the 2019 Ferruccio Busoni Piano Competition in Italy. Born in Bulgaria in 1998, he has already won competitions such as the ScriabinRachmaninov, Liszt-Bartok, Young Virtuosos and Jeunesses International Music Competition Dinu Lipatti. In 2022 he received the honorary Silver Medal of the London Musicians’ Company and the Carnwath Piano Scholarship. He is studying at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and his international engagements are beginning to soar.

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GENEROUSLY SUPPORTED BY

ARJAN TIEN

CONDUCTOR

MIKE WANG

PIANO SOLOIST

DVORAK

SLAVONIC DANCE NO. 8: SIDE BY SIDE WITH THE CPYO

RACHMANINOV PIANO CONCERTO NO. 2 IN C MINOR, OP. 18

JUNE

THURSDAY 19H30 CITY HALL

National Youth Concerto Competition in 2022 at the age of 15 was another Gold Medal for MIKE (ZI NING) WANG, a learner at Paarl Boys High School and a piano student of Mario Nell. Mike has already won many first prizes at various national competitions, including the Samro Hubert van der Spuy National Music Competition, the Hennie Joubert National Piano Competition, the Johann Vos Piano Competition as well as the Pieter Kooij Music Competition.

He has appeared as soloist with various orchestras since the age of 10 and appeared as soloist with the Cape Town Philharmonic Youth Orchestra in 2022.

BARTÓK

CONCERTO FOR ORCHESTRA

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BERNHARD GUELLER CONDUCTOR

DMITRY SHISHKIN PIANO SOLOIST

22 JUNE

THURSDAY 19H30 CITY HALL

Principal guest conductor since 2016 and Music Director Laureate of Symphony Nova Scotia, where he was music director for 16 years, BERNHARD GUELLER has been bringing audiences to their feet in South Africa and around the world for 30 years. He has conducted in concert halls across Europe and North America, and the Far East with orchestras such as the Stuttgart Symphony, Nashville Symphony and Shanghai Symphony. He was also music director of the Nuremberg Symphony and the Junge Süddeutsche Philharmonie. He has released several recordings, most recently with cellist Peter Martens and the CPO in the concerti of Saint-Saëns and Vieuxtemps.

RAVEL

PAVANE FOR A DEAD PRINCESS

BEETHOVEN

SYMPHONY NO. 8 IN F, OP. 93

RACHMANINOV

PIANO CONCERTO NO. 3 IN D MINOR, OP. 30

DMITRY SHISHKIN is a critically acclaimed Russian pianist, winning Silver in June 2019 at the prestigious 16th International Tchaikovsky Competition. He had already won Gold at the 73rd Geneva International Music Competition where he performed with Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and the Top of the World at Tromso in the years before.

From his Swiss home, he performs around the world, where he has been acclaimed as “electrifying”, “flamboyant”, with imaginative pointing to his phrasing, and as having “natural musical subtlety and artistry”.

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SPRING CONCERTS

07 - 28 SEPTEMBER

MUSSORGSKY

PRELUDE TO KHOVANSHCHINA

SHOSTAKOVICH CELLO CONCERTO NO 1, OP. 107

TCHAIKOVSKY

SYMPHONY NO. 2, OP. 11 “LITTLE RUSSIAN”

BERNHARD GUELLER CONDUCTOR

TORLEIF THEDÉEN

CELLO SOLOIST

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SEPTEMBER THURSDAY 19H30 CITY HALL

In a career spanning four decades, Swedish cellist TORLEIF THEDÉEN has performed with the world’s foremost orchestras and conductors. The first prize winner of international cello competitions, including the Casals Competition, he is also feted for his recitals and recordings.

He is Visiting Professor of cello at the Royal College of Music in London and Professor at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo.

"THE SPRING SEASON IS SPECIAL BECAUSE OF ITS DIVERSITY "

— BERNHARD GUELLER

SIBELIUS

THE SWAN OF TUONELA

MOZART

PIANO CONCERTO NO. 21 IN C, K. 467

MENDELSSOHN NOTTURNO FROM “A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM”

MENDELSSOHN SYMPHONY NO. 4 IN A “ITALIAN"

BERNHARD GUELLER CONDUCTOR

JAYSON GILLHAM

PIANO SOLOIST

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SEPTEMBER THURSDAY 19H30 CITY HALL

Described as a ‘story-teller’ (Gramophone) and ‘the ideal romantic’ (Limelight), Australian-British pianist JAYSON GILLHAM is internationally admired for his compelling performances. As a soloist, solo recitalist, chamber musician and recording artist, this winner of the Leeds and Van Cliburn competitions has performed in some of the world’s foremost concert halls and with orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic, the Hallé, and Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal.

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CORIGLIANO ELEGY FOR ORCHESTRA

BEETHOVEN

VIOLIN CONCERTO IN D, OP. 61

SCHUMANN

SYMPHONY NO. 4 IN D MINOR, OP. 120

BERNHARD GUELLER CONDUCTOR

PRIYA MITCHELL

VIOLIN SOLOIST

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SEPTEMBER THURSDAY 19H30 CITY HALL

PRIYA MITCHELL, whose appearances in the CPO’s Franschhoek Chamber Music Festival had audiences on their feet in seconds, is one of the foremost violinists of her generation. This, says The Strad, is due to the “intense high-profile characterisation she gives to each phrase, combined with qualities of colour and vividness, excitement and passion which makes her playing so memorable.”

ROBERT MAXYM

CONDUCTOR

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SEPTEMBER THURSDAY 19H30 CITY HALL

GENEROUSLY SUPPORTED BY

A CELEBRATION OF AFRICA

MARTENS

CHILDREN FOR AFRICA SIYAKHULEKELA

KHUMALO

Photo by Zipho Sebati

EXCERPTS FROM uSHAKA

These works, Suite from the opera Children of Africa, Siyakhulekela, a dramatic Zulu wedding scene for praise poet, choir and orchestra, and excerpts from Mzilikazi Khumalo’s uShaka, KaSenzangakhona, celebrate the 75th birthday of ROBERT MAXYM. He has spent 30 years in South Africa as a conductor, orchestrator and educator while continuing international engagements. With Ukrainian roots, Maxym was born in New York, studied at the Manhattan School of Music, in Montreux and Munich and won positions such as Music Director of the Essen Opera. His collaboration with Mzilikazi Khumalo and Themba Msimang on uShaka as orchestrator and conductor has toured internationally.

P L Á C I D O

D O M I N G O

He is a titan in the world of opera. Rolex celebrates 40 years of partnership with this iconic tenor-baritone who has more than 4,000 performances, over 150 roles and 100-plus recordings to his credit. If not singing, he is conducting.

If not performing, he is dedicated to his World Opera Competition, Operalia. His sublime voice is a miracle that captures hearts with its emotional intensity and the power of his interpretation. He is a living legend.

15 Photos by Zipho Sebati

ROBERT MAXYM

A CEL EBR AT ION OF A FRIC A

O

ne of the main goals of the CPO is to partner and collaborate with musicians who make up the rich tapestry of South African music. These include composers and arrangers as well as performers, and to mark the 75th birthday of conductor, composer and educator Robert Maxym, we invited him to showcase some the works that he has brought to the concert stage nationally and internationally. His career, beginning with his musical education in New York, has spanned 50 years, the last 30 as a permanent resident in South Africa.

After his debut in Johannesburg in 1991 with the SABC’s National Symphony Orchestra, Maxym returned in 1992 and the following year moved here where he soon “became immersed in South African music and culture at a whirlwind pace”, living through political and social upheaval, such as observing the Zulu march to the Union Buildings in 1993, and clearly hearing the rifle shots fired at Luthuli House in 1994 from the balcony of a cultural/musical meeting in Hillbrow.

“It was clear to me that the healing power of music was never more necessary than in South Africa at that time. And, of course, since.”

Maxym’s oeuvre covers more than 20 works — arrangements, orchestrations and original compositions. For the celebration on September 28, he has chosen three representative works.

The Suite from Jacqueline Martens’ three-act opera, Children of Africa, is followed by Siyakhulekela, a dramatic Zulu Wedding Scene for Praise Poet, Chorus, and Orchestra and then excerpts from Mzilikazi Khumalo’s uShaka, KaSenzangakhona.

“Late in 1994, Mzilikazi Khumalo asked me to do orchestral enrichment and enhancement of his Epic in Music and Praise Poetry Ushaka, KaSenzangakhona, based on the orchestration by Dr Chris James. Khumalo had written the original work in a capella tonic sol fa.

It was first performed in 1996 and was part of the Ten Years of Democracy tour arranged by Robert Brooks and Miagi in 2004 that took us to Spain, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Belgium and Hungary.

“My good friend, the cellist Peter Martens, brought me ‘granny’s opera’ in 2000. Children of Africa, which Jacqueline Martens dedicated to ‘to all people of good will’, tells of strife, reconciliation and understanding among people in the eastern foothills of Africa in the 19th century. I created the orchestral suite in 2002 to give some idea of the innate beauty and power of this work.

“Siyakhulekela, a dramatic Zulu wedding scene for praise poet, choir and orchestra, is intended to be a founding statement for a new genre in South African serious music. I asked Themba Msimang for subject matter of seminal importance to the culture of the Zulu people, whether concerning birth, death, passage rites, kingship or, as it turned out in late 2003, marriage. Msimang’s poem concerns that moment in the traditional Zulu wedding ceremony when the bride’s family presents her to the family of the groom.

“The musical milestones I have experienced in South Africa have allowed me to find an independent voice as composer, which is perhaps the most satisfying development of my long musical career.

All my work represents and pays homage to the value that high traditional culture can bring to the world, when treated with equanimity, integrity and respect.”

With 78 students, 16 conductors and teachers, the Music Academy has become an integral part of the life of young musicians and proof that the CPO improves the quality of life for young people in underserviced communities in a safe learning environment.

This is unparalleled in the South African music world.

CPO YOUTH ON THE RISE

T

he CPO’s youth development programme started 2023 on a high — a new management team in place with the manager Wilmie Jooste and co-ordinator Nolizwi Monica Dadase, a search for a new conductor for the youth orchestra, new premises for the Music Academy at Gardens Commercial High School, and opening the Suidoosterfees.

ALEXANDER EXCHANGE FOR EMERGING MUSICIANS Four young Cape Town Philharmonic Youth Orchestra musicians have been awarded the Alexander International Music Award for Emerging Musicians in the second part of the cultural collaboration funded by Alexander Valentin between the junge norddeutsche philharmonie (jnp) in Germany and the CPO.

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Nicci Botha

Ashlin Grobbelaar

Chad Groepies

The musicians who auditioned successfully are Nicci Botha (violin, 19, of Pinelands), Ashlin Grobbelaar, (cello, 24 of Mowbray), Chad Groepies, (trumpet, 25, of Mitchell’s Plain), and Sigqibo “Gibbs” Tokwe (bassoon, 22 of Gqeberha but at UCT in residence in Claremont).

All are members of the Cape Town Philharmonic Youth Orchestra and students at UCT, and all perform as ad hoc musicians with the CPO. After auditions open to all in the Cape Town Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, they were selected to attend the jnp summer camp in Germany in August. Next March, four young jnp musicians will join the CPO in a concert as part of the exchange.

For Mr Valentin, this is a chance to assist and promote young talented musicians to progress in their chosen careers by expanding their repertoire and being exposed to other cultures where music is of paramount importance.

“I believe that talented young people from under-resourced communities deserve all the support they can get. I have been involved for more than twenty years in social projects in Honduras in Central America assisting young people to achieve great lives through education.

I am most impressed with how the Cape

Town Philharmonic Orchestra is committed to education and development and believe that together we can achieve a great deal. This all expenses paid exchange is planned as the forerunner of many and the first part of a collaboration between me and the CPO that will benefit other young people in both worlds exchanging experiences.”

Marlene Schleicher, managing director of the jnp, who visited South Africa in February to meet the youth orchestra, was delighted by the calibre of its players.

“After listening to the audition tapes, we had no hesitation in inviting these four young people who will blend in so well with the musicians of the jnp who are without question some of the best young players in Germany. We look forward to an excellent summer camp and concerts.”

For the CPO’s CEO Louis Heyneman, the commitment by Mr Valentin is crucial to the youth programme, in particular in the townships.

“His support shows us that our educational work is valued and we welcome him as a long term committed partner of the CPO.”

MASIDLALE

Sigqibo “Gibbs” Tokwe

Masidlale is extremely vibrant, with sixty learners in nine schools. Nolizwi says for a while all the learners were brought into Artscape for lessons but now that only happens once a month so the young learners continue to be exposed to other environments, while the CPO team of teachers — Tembisa Notshongontshi, Siyatemba Nteta, Snazo Eleni, Nathan Adonis, John Minnaar and Nolizwi — travel to the rest.

“We have become the heart of the musical community,” Nolizwi says. “Instead of bringing the learners to the city during school hours, we teach in the afternoons after school, giving the learners an option to being alone at home or on the streets.

The only drawback is that it is a long day and they are very hungry so we are always asking our colleagues for money for fruit or sandwiches for them!”

C A PE TOWN CIT Y H A LL SE AT ING PL A N PLATFORM

BOX

H

G

STAGE A-B

PRE-CONCERT TALKS

By Albert Combrinck or John Woodland before most symphony concerts at 18:45, open to ticket holders.

BOX

A

B

C-P

F

E

C Q-S T-W

D

DRESS REHEARSALS Usually at 11:00 on most concert days (FOM 084 682 1337) SPRING SYMPHONY CONCERTS Seats: R150 (platform), R275, R300 and R350 (restricted view R150) SUBSCRIPTIONS RENEWALS From July 3-17 at Artscape Dial-ASeat 021 421 7695; New subscriptions and single concert tickets from July 25 at Dial-A-Seat and Computicket 0861 915 8000 / www.computicket.com.

Student and senior citizens R225 if still available 30 min before concert at the door.

All programmes correct at the time of going to press. ...............................................................................

SUBSCRIBE AND SAVE 10%

GALLERY

More information www.cpo.org.za, info@cpo.org.za or 021 001 0093 ...............................................................................

R350

R300

R275

R150