The Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival is back and will take place at the Stellenbosch University Konservatorium building from July 1 to 10, 2022.
Tickets for the evening concerts are on sale at Webtickets and patrons are well advised to book early given that Covid-19 restrictions are still in place and seating in the Endler Hall has been limited accordingly.
The first concert on July 1 opens with works by Arvo Pärt and Peteris Vasks, featuring violinist Daniel Rowland, back by popular demand. A Bach-Hip Hop set will combine contemporary performance art forms into something new and fresh, while Mendelssohn’s last string quartet will complete the second half.
From July 2 to 6 patrons can look forward to works by Max Bruch, Amy Beach (a gorgeous piece for flute and string quartet featuring Demarre McGill), Stravinsky (the famous L’histoire du soldat), Brahms, Ravel and Franck, among others.
Watch the video:
Having just emerged from a particularly tough period for the performing arts due to Covid-19 in which we lost three established South African composers Peter Klatzow, Allan Stephenson and Thomas Rajna; the legendary violinist Ivry Gitlis; cellist extraordinaire, Alexander Buzlov; and the two iconic SICMF patrons, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu and Denis Goldberg, this particular festival will be a very special one celebrating the lives and contributions of those passed in a nostalgic and deeply meaningful manner through music. Perhaps all the more significant is the resultant focus on rebirth, tenacity and continuity. To this end, the SICMF commissioned work Please Dream: In his words by Kathy Tagg will draw on poignant speeches delivered by our beloved Arch Tutu throughout his life.
The concertante evening on July 7 showcases Morschelles Concertante for flute, oboe and orchestra with Demarre McGill and Dwight Parry, respectively; Tartini’s Devil’s Trill sonata with violinist Alissa Margulis; Solima’s Violoncelles Vibrez! with Maja Bogdanović and Peter Martens as soloists; and John Mackey’s virtuoso trumpet concerto Antique Violences with Marco Silva.
The Festival Symphony Orchestra (July 8 and 10) conducted by Bernhard Gueller features soloists Alissa Margulis (violin), Kyril Zlotnikov (cello), Luis Magalhães (piano) and the principal clarinetist of the Berlin Philharmonic, Wenzel Fuchs. The Festival Concert Orchestra (July 9) conducted by Xandi van Dijk includes works by Beethoven and Sibelius as well as a prayer for Ukraine by Valentin Silvestrov, and Peter Louis van Dijk’s spoof, Beethoven or Bust, with Nina Schumann at the piano.
For full programme details including bios of the wonderful international festival faculty, go here.
For further enquiries, contact Fiona Grayer during office hours on 021 808 2358 or email: [email protected]