Big orchestral concerts and community concert lie ahead
The final weekend of the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival features large scale orchestral works performed by the Festival Symphony Orchestra, the Festival Concert Orchestra, and the newly formed Festival Symphonic Wind Orchestra, all performing in the wonderful acoustics of the much-loved, Endler Hall.
The SICMF’s orchestral concerts kick-off today (Friday 10 July) with the Festival Symphony Orchestra under the baton of the Grammy-award winning Czech-American conductor, Michael Repper. Repper’s charisma and empathy with the South African music students as well as his rapport with the audience are just some of the reasons he’ll be making this third visit to the SICMF.
The FSO concert today will open with the South African premiere of Antrópolis by the Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz (b. 1964). Ortiz’s eclectic musical style blends a wide variety of genres, including rock, Afro-Cuban music, and Mexican folk (her parents founded the well-known Mexican folk group Los Folkloristas). After the interval, the FSO will perform Mahler’s monumental first symphony nicknamed the ‘Titan’. The concert on 10 July will feature cellist David Cohen in Alfred Scnittke’s first cello concerto. Alfred Schnittke (1934-1998) is celebrated for his artistic-cultural trend of postmodernism. The concert on 12 July features violinist Miclen LaiPang and pianist Emanuil Ivanov in Mendelssohn’s effervescent concerto for piano and violin. Whilst the orchestral part of this concerto is most often performed in the version for strings only, the FCO will present Mendelssohn’s seldom heard own arrangement for strings and winds, which he ultimately seems to have preferred to the original.
Kärin Hendrickson will be making her South African debut as conductor of the Festival Concert Orchestra on Saturday 11 July. Kärin says, “I’m absolutely thrilled to be joining the artistic team of the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival. It is a phenomenal festival bringing together outstanding professional faculty from around the world. Aside from all the fantastic professional concerts, having world-class players from major orchestras or chamber groups coaching the sections of the student orchestras will provide a remarkable experience for our young players.” The FCO will be performing a selection from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, music from Bizet’s Carmen, and Bruch’s much loved first violin concerto with SICMF faculty artist, Siwoo Kim. This concert will be repeated in the Groendal Community, Franschhoek Hall at 12-noon on Sunday 13 July.
For the first time in the history of the SICMF, its programme includes the Festival Symphonic Wind Orchestra which caters for the large number of flute, clarinet and saxophone participants amongst others. The FSWO will be conducted by local saxophonist and conductor, Liam Burden, who has chosen an ambitious programme of specialized music for this new ensemble. Their concert at 17:00 on 10 July will include music by the British composer Philip Sparke (b. 1951) whose name has become synonymous with contemporary composition for wind bands and brass ensembles, the American composer Eric Whitacre (b. 1970) who is widely recognised for a style that is both cinematic and atmospheric, the jazz musician Paul Hart (b. 1954) who has an extensive background in writing music for film and television, and our very own local composer Lize Briel (b. 1999) who made history as the first woman to win the Alexander South African Composers’ Award. The evening’s performance will be rounded off with a performance of Paris Sketches by British composer Martin Ellerby (b. 1957).