C O N C E R T O , I S S U E 0 5 , 2 0 1 4 / 1 5

Welcome to our 5th issue of Concerto

Magazine! This orchestra is proud to have

served the music lovers of Cape Town for

a century, albeit with its back constantly

against the wall.

While researching our coff ee table book on

the symphonic tradition in Cape Town, we

came across some of the musical families

that have been part of this proud tradition –

the De Grootes and the Rennies, and also

the Schwietering and Martens families.

The music culture in South Africa owes a

lot to the talents of these passionate artists

and this is why this issue is dedicated to

these musical dynasties.

But musicians need audiences. And, of

course, donors and patrons. We dedicate

Concerto to every single music lover

who has worked eff ortlessly to keep the

symphonic tradition alive in Cape Town.

We salute the Friends of Orchestral

Music, these days under the enthusiastic

leadership of Derek Auret. To mark our

centenary, The Friends are hosting a

fundraising gala on Thursday, 4 December

with one of the world’s foremost violinists,

Benjamin Schmid, who is coming to help

raise funds. How honoured we are. We will

be launching our souvenir book, A Century

of Symphony, the Story of Cape Town’s

Orchestra at this occasion and you can buy

your copy together with a CD of the city’s

orchestral music across the century at a

special discount on that evening.

In spite of this proud tradition, we have

been waiting since early 2013 for our

application for funding from the National

Lotteries Board to be evaluated. We believe

in our cause and know that our application

has a lot of merit. How long we will be able

to survive without this crucial funding is

diffi cult to say. But giving up a tradition

after a hundred years? Never!

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CAPE TOWN PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

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C O N C E R T O , I S S U E 0 5 , 2 0 1 4 / 1 5

gives the master classes. We have also had other international conductors on our panels.”

The winner of the fi rst competition, Brandon Phillips, is today the conductor of the Cape Town Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. “For someone just starting out, the chance to conduct an orchestra with experienced conductors was invaluable,” the young conductor says. He recently received critical acclaim when conducting the Miagi Youth Orchestra in Germany and Holland.

The second winner, Xavier Cloete, has just made his conducting debut with the CPO. For Cloete, winning the competition expanded his music circles. “Music has taken me all around the world,” he said. “It was always a language I could understand and it opened doors for me that will never be able to close.”

There’s nothing like an audience on its feet shouting: “Bravo, encore!” after a great performance. When it happens to gifted young conductors, the sky’s the limit.

Len van Zyl, former advertising luminary and board member of the Philadelphia Orchestra, saw that there was a need to provide training and performance opportunities for young conductors. While instrumental players, singers and dancers have access to a stellar advanced musical education, the same could not be said

YOUNG ACHIEVERS

for conductors. “There is a gap for training and performance experience for this most specialised and vitally important function of music making,” Van Zyl said. “Conductors are essential to ensure that ensemble playing is achieved to maximise the quality and co-ordination of the orchestra.”

So in 2008, Len van Zyl established the fi rst Conductors’ Competition in partnership with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra. “Our competitions have attracted dozens of aspirant conductors,” Van Zyl said. “We have been fortunate to have had the participation of Victor Yampolsky of Northwestern University, Chicago, who

The sky is the limit for young conductors Brandon Phillips and Xavier Cloete, thanks to winning the Len van Zyl Conductors’ Competition

“Conductors are essential to ensure that ensemble playing is achieved to maximise the quality and co-ordination of the orchestra.”

Entry forms are now available for the 2015/2016 Len Van Zyl National Conductors’ Competition, South Africa’s only competition for young conductors

The competition off ers performance

opportunities and master classes with

international conductors; the semi-

fi nalists and fi nalists will perform with

the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra.

The winner is invited to conduct the

CPO and receives an all-expenses

paid one-month internship with the

Philadelphia Orchestra, plus two months

of study at Northwestern University in

Chicago with maestro Victor Yampolsky.

Entry forms can be downloaded from

the CPO website at www.cpo.org.za.

The closing date is 15 March 2015.

Those chosen will participate in the

preliminary round in June 2015 in

Cape Town, with the semi-fi nals and

fi nals taking place in February 2016.

The competition is open to conductors

no older than 33 by 1 January 2016.

For more information, send an email

to shirley@gueller.com or email

info@cpo.org.za.

THIRD LEN VAN ZYL

NATIONAL CONDUCTORS’

COMPETITION ANNOUNCED

Big changes are afoot at Artscape, with

two of our most important members of

staff moving on. Michael Maas has taken

early retirement due to ill health; Alastair

Cockburn’s contract has come to an

end. We will miss them both; they were

fantastic, supportive friends of the CPO.

Although they are leaving, we won't lose

touch, as Michael will continue with the

annual concerto competition he founded,

and Alastair will continue to conduct the

CPO in Gilbert and Sullivan productions.

Michael Maas served on the fi rst board

when the CPO regrouped at the end of

2000. Without support and co-operation

from Artscape, the streamlined orchestra

had little chance to survive. “During

Michael’s tenure as CEO, Artscape

fl ourished like never before and his

vision and business sense transformed

the organisation into the foremost

theatre complex in the country,” says

CPO CEO Louis Heyneman.

The upgrading of the theatres and

foyers and the addition of the new

administrative wings not only gave the

CPO professional offi ces for the fi rst

time, but ensured that Cape Town’s

orchestra stayed an essential part of

Cape Town’s cultural life.

Of Alastair Cockburn, Heyneman says:

“Over the years you were our most

solid and reliable partner and we

thank you for your personal advice

and support over the past 14 years –

I can hardly believe that it has been

almost 15 years since those fi rst nervous

steps after regrouping and forming a

new streamlined orchestra. Your moral

support and practical advice to me and

Sergei were extremely important and

your interventions often saved the day.”

CPO board member Pieter Louwrens is

the acting CEO of Artscape.

Changes at ArtscapeThe board, management and musicians of the Cape Town Philharmonic would like to bid farewell to Michael Maas, Artscape's CEO for many years, and Alastair Cockburn, in charge of planning

BRANDON PHILLIPS

XAVIER CLOETE

Notes

Victoria Cawood is stepping down as manager of Fine Music Radio.

She has added commitment and style

to the marvellous music resource that

is FMR, and has been there since

its inception in various capacities.

We shall miss her. The CPO thanks her

for her partnership with the orchestra.

The CPO also welcomes Mark Jennings,

a businessman and freelance presenter

for some years, as the new manager,

from February 2015.

C O N C E R T O , I S S U E 0 5 , 2 0 1 4 / 1 5

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Michael Maas and Alistair Cockburn

C O N C E R T O , I S S U E 0 5 , 2 0 1 4 / 1 5

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Conducting patterns are the building blocks of a conductor's movementsFOR CENTURIES,

ATTENDING A

SYMPHONY MEANT

ABIDING BY A

STRICT SET OF

SOCIAL MANNERS.

IN TODAY’S DIGITAL

AGE, CONCERT-GOING

IS A DIFFERENT

THING – ROWS ARE

EVEN SET ASIDE IN

SOME PLACES TO

ALLOW TWEETING.

WHILE WE’RE ALL FOR

PROGRESS, A CERTAIN

DECORUM IS STILL

NEEDED TO ENSURE

EVERYONE ENJOYS A

NIGHT OUT IN PEACE

• Do not take pictures or video during a

performance. Copyright of music needs to be

respected. Also, you could disturb the musicians

or capture the one wrong note or late entry, load it

on YouTube and everyone gets the wrong idea, so

bear with us.

• Dress as casually as you like. You are welcome

to really dress up and we would love to see more

long dresses and tuxedos, but we are also realistic

about the air-conditioning in the City Hall.

• Don’t arrive late. It is disconcerting for the

musicians who are concentrating on the music and

the conductor’s directions to see you sneak in late.

• Cough into your sleeve. If you really have to

cough, use your sleeve. Don’t ruin those

quiet moments.

• Unwrap your sweets before you enter the hall.

Sweet wrappers can be surprisingly noisy.

• Turn off cell phones. No one wants the conductor

to glare at them.

• Clap at the end of the piece. While we welcome

an enthusiastic reception, the fl ow of the music

can be spoiled for some. Most audiences at

classical concerts will wait until the end of an entire

piece to clap. If you’re not sure when a piece ends,

just check your programme or keep an eye on the

conductor — when the piece is over, he will put his

arms down and turn to the audience.

His death, or the conditions following it, remains less well known. Only eight days after his funeral in 1809, two phrenologists stole Haydn’s head, hoping to see if the composer's genius was somehow refl ected in the bumps and ridges of his skull. Eleven years later, the composer’s patron Prince Nikolaus Esterházy II discovered this and provided another to make the skeleton complete. Then, in 1895, the real skull was willed to a music society in Vienna, and was reunited with the rest of Haydn’s body. The substitute skull was never removed, so now, Haydn has two heads – which is the correct one remains a mystery.

A CONDUCTOR’S INTRICATE MOVEMENTS AND

DRAMATIC EXPRESSIONS ARE THE GLUE THAT

HOLD THE ORCHESTRA TOGETHER, UNITING THE

MUSICIANS TO THE BEAT AND TEMPO OF THE MUSIC

Every conductor has a diff erent approach for emotion guides

interpretation. Just before the concert begins, eyes make contact, a

collective breath is taken, and the upbeat is given. Grimaces can tell the

musicians when the dynamics are wrong or an entry too late. Anyone who

has seen Valery Gergiev will attest to the oddness of his movements, but

few will disagree that incomprehensible or not, the music his musicians

produce is some of the best.

C O N C E R T O , I S S U E 0 5 , 2 0 1 4

Behind the music

DO BEHAVE CODE OF CONDUCT

THE TWO-HEADED COMPOSER

Perhaps Leonard Bernstein describes those

moments best in the 1950s educational series

Omnibus: The Art of Conducting:

“How can I describe to you the magic of the

moment of beginning a piece of music at a

concert? There is only one possible fraction of a

second that feels right to start with. There is a wait

while the orchestra readies itself and collects its

powers, while the condutor concentrates all his

will and force onto the work in hand, while the

audience quiets down and the last cough has died

away, and there is no rustle of a programme book,

the instruments are paused, and bang! That’s it.

If he waits one instant later, the whole thing is too

late, the magic has vanished. A great conductor is

one who has a great sensitivity to the fl ow of time.”

SOURCE: FROM

ESSENTIALS IN

CONDUCTING BY

KARL WILSON

GEHRKENS, SOURCED

FROM PROJECT

GUTENBERG.

ABOVE:

ONE-BEAT, TWO-BEAT

AND THREE-BEAT

MEASURES

BELOW:

FOUR-BEAT MEASURE

JOSEPH HAYDN WAS

ONE OF AUSTRIA’S MOST

PROLIFIC COMPOSERS,

KNOWN FOR HIS GREAT

CONTRIBUTIONS TO

MUSICAL FORM

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C O N C E R T O , I S S U E 0 5 , 2 0 1 4 / 1 5

Facebook postings? Tweets? Texting? At a classical concert? You had better believe it! RISE cocktail curtain raiser recitals were introduced to the concert experience last year and they took off , especially among a young crowd new to the concert hall. RISE recitals showcase the next generation of exceptional South African artists in works linked to the night’s programme, with drinks thrown in. Audience interaction is a key factor, concertgoers are encouraged to bring smartphones and tablets. From here they can access the evening's programme, programme notes and artists' biographies on the RISE webpage, and also share photographs or comments. RISE is the brainchild of soprano Magdalene Minnaar and pianist Jose Dias.

ALL RISE

“As a musician I tell you that if you were to suppress adultery, fanaticism, crime, evil, the supernatural, there would no longer be the means for writing one note.” – George Bizet

Transcending time: SOME WORKS

HAVE BECOME SO INGRAINED IN OUR CULTURE

YOU WOULD BE HARD-PRESSED TO FIND SOMEONE

WHO DIDN’T KNOW HOW TO HUM THEM. OTHERS

ARE MORE CHALLENGING AND MORE WORTHWHILE.

HERE ARE SOME THAT HAVE SET PEOPLE TALKING:

PIANO CONCERTO #3 - SERGEI RACHMANINOV

Emotional in scope and scored for

a large orchestra, the hour-long

symphony is considered to be the

most conventional of his symphonies,

though ending unusually with a rondo.

Its adagietto is in the Death in Venice

soundtrack and is seen as Mahler’s

romantic tribute to Alma.

A forerunner to a host of works

written for violin, cello and piano,

the Triple Concerto is essentially a

work for piano trio and orchestra.

Judge for yourself if the claim that

the piano part is simpler, composed

for a teenager who would be

supported by two mature musicians.

RISE concerts are schedules for 22 January,

5 February, 2 April and 16 April. Please check

www.cpo.org.za for details.

No one really knows if it was the music,

the ballet or a combination of both

that caused a scandal on its premiere

in Paris 100 years ago. Harmonically

adventurous, the score makes use of

rhythms and dissonances to create, for

instance, the sounds of ice cracking in

the northern spring, now so normal that

this work is part of orchestral repertoire.

THE RITE OF SPRING - IGOR STRAVINSKY

Called by the composer a concerto

for elephants and made famous

in recent years thanks to the fi lm

Shine, this grandiose concerto is

dramatic, expressive, rhapsodic,

imaginative and one of the most

technically demanding.

HOTOFF THE

PRESS

01 02

03 04SYMPHONY #5 - GUSTAV MAHLER

TRIPLE CONCERTO - LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN

22JAN

05FEB

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16APR

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Misunderstood by many who love it for its

melody, the Unfi nished may be one of the

most infi nitely sad in the repertoire. Maybe

he wrote it when he had just been diagnosed

with syphilis. No one knows why he left only

two movements, but all agree that its lyricism,

harmony and colour are splendid.

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BeyondBachMusical talent and passion seem to run in the blood – around the world, classical musical families have kept the symphonic torch burning over the generations

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C O N C E R T O , I S S U E 0 5 , 2 0 1 4 / 1 5

Feature

Johann Sebastian Bach fathered 20 children in his lifetime. This made for quite good odds that one of his offspring would become a musician; several did. The Bach musical dynasty actually preceded him, spanning over

200 years and six generations, producing more than 50 musicians. It began with JS Bach’s Hungarian great-great grandfather, who played the lute. His grandfather and father were both minstrels, as were many of his uncles, great-uncles and cousins.

The Bachs were not the only famous musicians with a legacy: other greats throughout history include the siblings Joseph and Michael Haydn, Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn, David Oistrakh and his son Igor and Richard Strauss, whose father was a horn player in the Munich Opera Orchestra.

THE NOTABLE YABLONSKYS

There are also plenty of contemporary musical families, one of the most notable being Russia’s Yablonskys. Oxana Yablonsky starting playing piano at the tender age of two, and became a teacher at the Moscow Central Music School for Gifted Children at only 17. She taught at the Juilliard School in New York for more than 30 years, and has a prodigious discography that includes recordings of Tchaikovsky, Chopin, Brahms, Glazunov, Khachaturyan, Rachmaninov, Liszt, Mussorgsky and Prokoviev; her recording of Schubert-Liszt won the prestigious Grand Prix du Disque.

Oxana’s son, Dmitry, was born into music – his father is Albert Zaionz, the solo oboe of the Radio and Television orchestra in Moscow. At the age of nine, Dmitry gave his orchestral debut, playing Haydn’s cello concerto in C major. He performed on many occasions across the Soviet Union before immigrating to the United States in the 1970s; it took signatures from personalities such as Leonard Bernstein and Katharine Hepburn to convince the Soviet authorities to issue his visa. Upon arrival in New York in 1977, he was accepted at the Juilliard and studied with Lorne Munroe, principal cellist of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.

Every country has its own classical music legacies, and it’s no different here in Cape Town. The orchestras have been home to three of the most notable: De Groote, Rennie and Martens/Schwietering, who have carried the musical torch in South Africa and beyond.

THE RULE OF THE RENNIES

Michael Doré has left a lasting legacy on Cape Town’s musical scene. He was born in Moscow in 1883, and came to South Africa in 1934 to become the musical director of Schlesinger’s Colosseum Orchestra in Johannesburg. There he met and married Else Schneider, one of the fi rst violin students to play in the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra (CTSO).

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP Michael Doré with Tamara c.1950;

Tamara, Elsa and Michael Doré on a train leaving for a

College of Music opera tour to the Rhodesias c.1957;

Tamara Rennie (nee Doré) c.1960; Rennie Juniors c.1989,

Catherine, Bridget, Michael and Lizzie.

After many years as leader of the Johannesburg Municipal Orchestra, Michael retired to Cape Town in 1954, where he and his wife taught at the College of Music. Their daughter, Tamara Doré Rennie, followed in her parents’ footsteps, spending her life teaching violin and viola as well as playing in orchestras. She married the architect John Rennie, whom she met when they were both violin students at the University of Cape Town (UCT). As a restoration specialist, he has worked on the City Hall on several occasions. Years later, his children would grace the City Hall stage in various school, youth-orchestra and Eisteddfod concerts.

Their daughter Bridget Rennie Salonen and her siblings grew up in a rich musical environment. “Music has always been in our blood, and so it was a fête accompli that all four of us Rennie grandchildren began music lessons early,” she says. “We grew up in the City Hall, literally; occupying ourselves in the passages while our mother played in the orchestra. Sitting in the choir stalls watching the musicians and their instruments was enthralling.”

Each Rennie sibling boasts an impressive musical resume. Elizabeth, or “Lizzie”, was in the viola section in the CTSO in the late 1980s. She studied at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music in the United States, returning to Cape Town in 1994, where she became co-principal viola with Cape Performing Arts Board (CAPAB), principal viola with Performing Arts Centre of the Free State (PACOFS) in Bloemfontein, and then moved to the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO).

After the NSO’s closure, Lizzie began experimenting with musical styles and now teaches strings at St Andrew’s College in Grahamstown. “She spans the divide from classical orchestral violist to electric pop violinist, with many guises in-between,” Bridget explains. “Her son, Joshua Furtner, is already a budding pianist and singer.”

Bridget’s brother Michael is an exceptional violinist, and also explores many musical genres. “He spent more than a decade writing, recording and touring with his bands Sons of Trout and Mikanic, and moved to New York in 2003, where he was on the string faculty at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music and the Connecticut School of Music,” Bridget explains. “Michael directed Musicians for World Harmony, developing funding for music healing projects in African countries. He’s still performing, recording and composing, and also directs New Village Music, in Sausalito, California.”

Bridget’s own career spans over 20 years, from co-principal fl ute with CAPAB in 1989 to solo principal fl ute with the CTPO from 1997 – 2000. She has appeared as soloist with several South African orchestras and is an active chamber musician. “I am the principal fl ute of the Cape Town Pops Orchestra and play the Baroque Traverso fl ute with the Camerata Tinta Barocca,” she says. “I also lecture in fl ute at the

“We grew up in the City Hall, literally; occupying ourselves in the passages while our mother played in the orchestra.”

C O N C E R T O , I S S U E 0 5 , 2 0 1 4 / 1 5

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TOP Steven De Groote BOTTOM Paul Martens c.1973

“Few families have contributed as much to orchestral music in Cape Town as the De Groote family.”

THE DE GROOTE LEGACY

Few families have contributed as much to orchestral music in Cape Town as the De Groote family and, even though some left to make careers overseas, they never lost their kinship with the orchestra in Cape Town.

Pierre De Groote came to South Africa from Belgium in 1947, and performed not only as a violin soloist in all the standard concertos, but as a conductor. He was conductor of the UCT Symphony Orchestra from 1966 to 1973 and then again at the end of the 1970s. His wife, Hermina, a violinist and violist, played the Mozart Concertante with him, and was herself an ad hoc violist with the orchestra for 15 years before joining full-time in 1983.

Their son, Steven De Groote, was one of South Africa’s foremost musical exports. He studied with Lamar Crowson at the University of Cape Town, playing and recording frequently with the CTSO from the age of 16 (who will forget his Brahms Second Piano Concerto?), before moving to the Royal Conservatory in Brussels and then the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. He won many prestigious awards during the 1970s, which lead to his Carnegie Hall debut, and played with some of the world’s leading orchestras before going on to teach at Arizona State University and Texas Christian University, until his untimely death at the age of 36.

Steven toured Taiwan with the CTSO in 1988; in the orchestra for that tour were Hermina and Olivier, his

clarinettist brother and principal with the orchestra for a number of years. Olivier played with the Weber Clarinet Concerto with the CTSO with his father conducting, and was also a soloist on several other occasions, most notably in the Mozart Clarinet Concerto, which was his last public appearance before his premature death in 1996. (Olivier’s children have continued his musical legacy. Guido and Rudi de Groote are both musicians in Europe.)

Their brother, Andre, is a pianist, who made a career in Belgium teaching and performing at the Brussels Conservatoire and also playing as a soloist with the CTSO. Phillip is now retired as a founding member of the Chilingirian Quartet and played the Shostakovich Cello Concerto with the CTSO.

Their sister, Tessa, a Cape Town Eisteddfod concerto piano category winner, was a soloist with CTSO in Schumann Konzertstück when she was just 16, and followed this with several other appearances. While Tessa’s children have not pursued musical careers, Margaret, her eldest daughter, has worked in arts management for the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Feature

University of Cape Town and teach privately. I am passionate about performance health education.”

Bridget has many treasured mementos from her family’s musical past. “I have a recording of Michael playing the Tchaikovsky violin concerto in 1954 under the baton of Pierre Colombo and another when he was 74, playing the Adagio and Finale of the Bruch No. 1 at a City Hall lunch-hour concert.”

“We also have a recording from 1959 of the Cape Town Municipal Orchestra (CTMO) dress rehearsal of the Glazounov violin concerto with conductor Minas Christian,” Bridget continues. “Michael had earlier premièred the Glazounov concerto in South Africa, having played it in 1911 in St Petersburg under the direction of the composer, a fi rst at that time. We have a signed photograph in which Glazounov is thanking Michael for the performance and the original full orchestral score.”

Michael’s near-contemporary Mischa Elman premièred the Glazouno violin concerto in London. “When Elman came to play with the CTMO in the 1950s, the two Mischas embraced,” Bridget says. “Michael had changed his name from Mischa Zirelstein to Michael Doré when he moved to Europe from Russia – with Elman apparently saying: ‘You were the greatest technician of us all!’ ” With this incredible musical legacy, it seems very likely that Michael Doré’s great-great grandchildren will follow in his footsteps.

MARTENS AND MORE ...

Paul Martens, a violin teacher at the University of Stellenbosch, before that concertmaster with the Durban orchestra with his own string ensemble, was married to pianist and lecturer in Durban and UCT, Jacquelyn. Their son Eric Martens was principal cellist in the CTSO. Eric is the father of cellist Peter Martens, formerly principal cellist in the CPO and now at Stellenbosch University; Heidi Martens, a violinist in Salzburg; and Phillip Martens, a violinist in the CPO. Their mother, Marianne Schwietering, is a fl autist and her brother Jürgen, a violinist who was concertmaster of the CTSO and a teacher at UCT; Marianne and Jürgen’s mother, Suzanne, was a pianist and lecturer at Rhodes and Stellenbosch; their aunt Marianne McLean, a violinist, is also the mother of Eddie McLean, associate principal cello in the CPO. Another aunt, Wunneke, was a fl autist in the NDR. Peter’s wife, Suzanne Martens, is guest concertmaster with the CPO and her brothers Cobus (cello), a professor at the Zurich Hochschule and Andre, a freelance violinist in the UK. On to the next generation: Peter and Suzanne’s girls are a pianist and violinist, Heidi’s boys play the cello and violin. Then there’s a link to the De Grootes: Eric’s sister, Elizabeth, is the mother of Guido and Rudi, sons of Olivier.

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Outreach

There is much more to the

CPO than performances

and concerts. “The CPO is

a champion of classical music in

South Africa,” explains Laurika

Steenkamp, Outreach and

Education Manager at CPO. To grow

enthusiasm for classical music, the

organisation focuses on helping

fi nding young people become

part of the classical music world,

coaching them not only in the thrill

of learning to play an instrument,

but in becoming part of the industry.

The CPO has three major youth

outreach arms: the Masidlale Music

Project, the Music Academy, and

the Cape Town Philharmonic Youth

Orchestras (CPYO). “The Masidlale

programme works mainly in the

townships with youth who have

been identifi ed to have musical

talent. It works from the inside,

with young people managing the

teaching,” Steenkamp explains.

“We also have a Music Academy

that runs in Cape Town every

Saturday where 110 youth receive

individual instrumental and theory

lessons. Our youth projects feature

a full symphony orchestra, a wind

ensemble, a strings orchestra and a

junior wind band, with participants

ranging from ages 14 to 24.”

CPO members teach CPYO

musicians, some of whom are

extras in the CPO; CPYO musicians

work as instructors in the Masidlale

Project, and some of those will grow

to become instructors themselves,

one day perhaps playing in the

CPO and serving as role models,

ensuring the training goes full circle.

All these programmes help young

people get a good taste of what it’s

like to be in an orchestra.

“Many young musicians have

a fairy-tale idea about it; they

sometimes need a reality check,”

Steenkamp explains. “It’s hard

work, long hours and often a lot of

waiting around.”

The CPO’s programmes provide

professional mentorships, with

access into the industry and jobs,

something rarely found in youth

programmes. “Out of more than 400

participants in the youth projects,

only two or three will actually

become professional musicians,”

Steenkamp says. “You can’t just

train in music – many musicians fail

here. If they want to do music they

have to fi nd a way – not just as a

musician, but as a person. it’s about

having the right tools, and how they

go about it.”

While the CPO does a lot of work

to help disadvantaged students,

it also assists those from more

affl uent schools. “We open the

eyes of everyone who don’t know

about classical music, both ones

who can and can’t access it,”

Steenkamp says.

Steenkamp and her team also make

a lot of eff ort to introduce classical

music to a young audience in a fun

way. “We make sure it’s relevant, so

we pay attention to popular culture

by listening to the music they use

in ads and movies,” she says.

“We bring in something current

that they identify with.”

For example, last year Steenkamp

incorporated the William Tell

overture with Gangnam Style, the

popular song by Korean musician

Psy. “In the past, the only way to

experience music was with a live

orchestra,” Steenkamp says.

“By making a connection between

current music and the past, they

can see it is a diff erent kind of

experience. We don’t want to think

outside the box, we want to throw

it into the sea!”

Laurika is already doing this with

some of the various other music

activities she’s involved with.

She also runs and produces Cool

Classic Kidz, a music club and

radio programme on Fine Music

Radio 101.3 that helps inspire youth

through music. (It is currently being

restructured but will relaunch

in 2015). Her work is all part of

that philosophy that classical

music needs to be enjoyed in

whatever way people want to.

Some audiences are jubilant, with

people dancing and clapping to the

music. “It’s about creating a safe

space,” says Steenkamp. “Who are

we to say they can’t experience it

this way? Whether they are from

Khayelitsha or Constantia, in music

they are the same.”

Steenkamp’s greater goal is to

create a true classical musical

loving culture in South Africa.

“We want to open people’s eyes

to something new and create a

music industry that has a footprint

in the community. We are a music-

loving culture. Music gives access

to touch people’s lives; you can’t

measure that in monetary terms.”

She must be doing something right;

it’s rare the CPYO has a show that

isn’t sold out. “We’re working on

changing perceptions, and helping

people love classical music even

though they may be experiencing

it diff erently,” Steenkamp says.

“I will only put head my down to

rest when that happens.”

WITH A DIVERSE PORTFOLIO OF YOUTH

PROGRAMMES, THE CAPE TOWN PHILHARMONIC

ORCHESTRA IS NURTURING A FUTURE FOR MUSIC

IN SOUTH AFRICA. WE SPEAK TO OUTREACH AND

EDUCATION MANAGER LAURIKA STEENKAMP

CREATING COMMUNITY

“We want to open people’s eyes to something new, and through outreach create a music industry that has a footprint in the community.”

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RISE COCKTAIL

CURTAIN

RAISER | 7PM

Calendar

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CAPE TOWN INTERNATIONAL SUMMER MUSIC FESTIVAL // JANUARY 2015

Calendar

922 JAN

2015CONDUCTOR: MARTIN PANTELEEV

SOLOIST: STEWART GOODYEAR

(PIANO)

TCHAIKOVSKY FRANCESCA

DA RIMINI, OP. 32

RACHMANINOV PIANO CONCERTO

NO. 3 IN D MINOR, OP. 30

STRAVINSKY THE RITE OF SPRING 8 PM, CITY HALLTHURSDAY

Martin Panteleev

Considered to be one of the most dynamic young conductors in

Europe, principal guest conductor Martin Panteleev has begun

his fourth season as chief conductor of the Sofi a Philharmonic

Orchestra. His insightful and exciting performances have received

unanimous acclaim and he was named the Bulgarian Musician

of the Year in 2013. He most recently appeared with the Royal

Philharmonic, Berliner Symphoniker, the Argentinian Orquesta

Sinfonica Nacional, the English Chamber Orchestra, Concertgebouw

chamber orchestra in Amsterdam, Orquesta Classica di Santa

Cecilia, George Enescu Philharhamonic and Romanian National

Radio Orchestra in Bucharest and the KZN Philharmonic.

Stewart Goodyear Canadian pianist Stewart Goodyear has been called “a

phenomenon” and “one of the best pianists of his generation”

by leading US newspapers such as The Los Angeles Times

and The Philadelphia Inquirer after his performances with

the Los Angeles, Philadelphia, New York Philharmonic and

Chicago Symphony orchestras. He is in demand worldwide,

from North America to the UK, Europe and Japan. Acclaimed

in concert, recital and as a composer, Goodyear’s recording of

Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto and Grieg’s Piano Concerto,

with the Czech National Symphony, was released to critical

acclaim on the Steinway and Sons label in June 2014.

DEREK HAN’s elegant, polished

and compelling playing has dazzled

audiences across six continents.

Performing with an original style,

Han’s lucid tones are spirited, and

with technical fl uidity and accuracy.

He graduated from the Juilliard School

of Music at the age of 18, and studied

later with Gina Bachauer and Lili Kraus.

After winning fi rst prize at the Athens

International Piano Competition in

1977, he rose to international fame.

He fi rst visited South Africa in 1996

on a critically triumphant tour with the

Sinfonia Varsovia to celebrate the

80th birthday of Menuhin.

CONDUCTOR: MARTIN

PANTELEEV

SOLOIST: DEREK HAN (PIANO)

WAGNER Overture to Tannhäuser

BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 3

in C minor, Op. 37 BRAHMS Symphony No. 2 in D,

Op. 73

THURSDAY8 PM CITY HALL

JAN29

The details were correct at the time of going to print. The Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra reserves the right to alter programmes and

replace conductors and/or soloists as may become necessary, but will endeavour to give notice of such changes in the media.

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JANNA GANDELMAN,

concertmaster of the Jerusalem

Symphony Orchestra, was born in

Moldavia in 1967. At the age of fi ve,

she started playing violin and soon

after won her fi rst competitions in the

Soviet Union. After immigrating to

Israel in 1979, she joined the American-

Israel Cultural Foundation and

embarked on studies at the Tel Aviv

Music Academy, winning competitions

in Israel, Italy and America. She has

been a member of many great Israeli

music ensembles and performed

chamber music with Gidon Kremer and

Isaac Stern.

Autumn Symphony Season 2015

THURSDAY8 PM CITY HALLAPR

02CONDUCTOR: DMITRY YABLONSKY

SOLOIST: OXANA YABLONSKAYA

(PIANO)

CONDUCTOR: DMITRY YABLONSKY

SOLOIST: OXANA YABLONSKAYA

(PIANO); DIMITRY YABLONSKY

(CELLO); JANNA GANDELMAN

(VIOLIN)

CONDUCTOR: DMITRY YABLONSKY

SOLOIST: DIMITRI YABLONSKY

(CELLO); JANNA GANDELMAN

(VIOLIN)

BORODIN In the Steppes of Central Asia

RACHMANINOV Piano Concerto No. 1

in F-sharp minor

TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 3 in D,

Op. 29

BEETHOVEN Triple Concerto in C, Op. 55

SCHUBERT Symphony No. 8 in

B minor, “Unfi nished”, D.759

STRAVINSKY The Firebird Suite

(1945 version)

MOZART Sinfonia Concertante in

E-fl at, K. 364 (Transcribed: violin, cello)

BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 3 in

E fl at, Op. 55 (Eroica)

THURSDAY8 PM CITY HALL

THURSDAY8 PM CITY HALL

APR09

APR16

YI-JIA SUSANNE HOU is the fi rst

ever violinist to capture three gold medals

at three international competitions:

Concours International Long-Thibaud

(France, 1999), Lipizer International Violin

Competition (Italy, 1999) and Sarasate

International Violin Competition (Spain,

1997). No wonder the Strad wrote: “Her

sound is strangely strong yet delicate;

her technique near fl awless…” She plays

on the ex-Mary Portman, Fritz Kreisler

Guarneri del Gesù, Cremona, c. 1735 on

loan from Clement and Karen Arrison

through the generous eff orts of

The Stradivari Society of Chicago.

CONDUCTOR: MARTIN PANTELEEV

SOLOIST: YI-JIA SUSANNE HOU

(VIOLIN)

SHOSTAKOVICH Festive Overture Op. 96 CHEN/HE Butterfl y Lover’s Concerto MAHLER Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp minor

THURSDAY8 PM CITY HALLFEB

05

MILHAUD Le boeuf sur le toit, Op. 58

FRANÇAIX Clarinet Concerto

DEBUSSY Prelude á L’après-midi

d’un faune

RAVEL Ma Mère l’Oye (Mother Goose)

Winner of numerous national and

international competitions, MARIA DU TOIT is one South Africa’s foremost

instrumentalists, and enjoys a prolifi c

solo career. She is currently on sabbatical

as principal clarinettist of the CPO and

clarinet lecturer at the University of

Stellenbosch. She has been invited to be

a soloist with every major orchestra in

South Africa, as well as various European

orchestras. She has released three solo

albums, all to rave reviews.

CONDUCTOR: MARTIN PANTELEEV

SOLOIST: MARIA DU TOIT

(CLARINET)

THURSDAY8 PM CITY HALLFEB

12

SIR JAMES GALWAY, fl ute, in concert with

the Zurich Chamber Orchestra and members

of the SA National Youth Orchestra.

(Not part of the subscription series)

Festival Gala ConcertPRESENTED BY THE CPO

WEDNESDAY

8 PM, CITY HALL11 FEB

1 1

OXANA YABLONSKAYA is one of

the most sought-after musicians, recording

artists and teachers of our time. Now

emeritus professor at the Juilliard School

of Music, she became the youngest ever

to start teaching at the age of 17 at the

Central Music School for Gifted Children

in Moscow. She has also established the

Oxana Yablonskaya Piano Institute in Italy,

and has played in more than 40 countries

as a recitalist and soloist with prestigious

orchestras and prominent conductors

such as Rozhdestvensky, Rostropovich

and Svetlanov.

Conductor and cellist DIMITRY YABLONSKY was born in Moscow,

began playing the cello when he was fi ve

years old, and at nine made his orchestral

debut playing the Haydn Cello Concerto.

He regularly collaborates with artists such

as Boris Berezovsky and Vadim Repin

(with whom he made an award-winning

recording), Shlomo Mintz and Yuri Bashmet.

He is also principal guest conductor of

the Novoya Rossiya Orchestra in Russia,

having made his conducting debut in Italy

when he was 26. He has since collaborated

with many important orchestras as the

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Moscow

Philharmonic Orchestra (principal guest

conductor 2000-2004) and has a festival

in Azerbaijan.

C O N C E R T O , I S S U E 0 5 , 2 0 1 4 / 1 5

More magic

1 2

JOIN OUR DATABASE To receive regular newsletters and event information, simply email a request with your details to info@cpo.org.za or visit our website on www.cpo.org.za to read the online edition of Concerto. Also follow us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Ring in the New Year with the

sensational Freshlyground,

accompanied by conductor

Richard Cock and the Cape Town

Philharmonic Orchestra, amidst the magical

atmosphere of the historic manor house at

the Nederburg wine farm in Paarl.

With the dynamic Zolani Mahola on lead

vocals, Freshlyground will have audiences

dancing to all their favourites songs, including

hits such as Fire is Low, Ma-Cherie, Pot Belly,

Doo Be Doo, I’d Like, Would You Mind and

The Man Moves, all played with full symphonic

accompaniment. The concert is presented in

collaboration with the Distell Foundation.

The concert begins at 21:30; choose your

picnic spot when gates open at 17:00.

Contact info@cpo.org.za or 021 410 9809

for more details about bus packages and

food availability.

Tickets for the concert are R300 for adults and R175 for those 12 to-18; fr ee for under 12s. Tickets: Computicket or Artscape Dial-a-Seat on 021 421 7695.

AFRO POP MEETS

SYMPHONY WHEN

FRESHLYGROUND

& CPO PLAY NEW YEAR’S

EVE AT NEDERBURG

A Fresh night out

BOOK BY TELEPHONEBookings for the international summer festival open on

8 December. Bookings for the autumn season open from

23 February 2015. Existing subscribers can renew 10 days before.

Artscape Dial-A-Seat: Artscape and City Hall only

on (021) 421 7695 – Credit card bookings.

Advance bookings: through Computicket Mon–Fri,

9 am–5 pm/Sat 9 am–12.30 pm.

For telephonic credit card bookings:

call Computicket on 0861 915 8000 [Toll free]

CAN BE MADE AT SELECTED COMPUTICKET OUTLETS

OR ONLINE AT WWW.COMPUTICKET.CO.ZA

For more details, visit: www.cpo.org.za

COMPUTICKET BOOKINGS

A CENTURY OF SYMPHONY

A century after Theo Wendt gave the fi rst conducting downbeat of the Cape Town Municipal Orchestra in 1914, the music goes on. There may have been vicissitudes in funding and the orchestra’s name, but one thing remains constant: never in that 100 years did the Mother City lack an orchestra presenting the best music of the time. Names may astonish, reminiscences fascinate, photographs remind, nostalgically, of venues like the Pierhead that once were. It’s more than a history; it’s a keepsake that reminds us of how our city and its orchestra are so intertwined.

It is cause to celebrate and, thanks to contributions by a host of musicians, concertgoers, board members, and dignitaries – and the input of Sjoerd Alkema and his doctoral thesis on the early conductors – the CPO is proud to present A Century of Symphony: The Story of Cape Town’s Orchestra.

A Century of Symphony is published by Jonathan Ball and available through most bookstores from December 2014.

To order this book

visit our website on

www.cpo.org.za

SCAN this unique QR code with your mobile phone and you will be redirected to the online edition of Concerto. Alternatively, visit our website at www.cpo.org.za