German youth orchestra to perform in South Africa, Botswana
Germany's Rheinland-Pfalz Youth Orchestra will perform works by South African composers Hendrik Hofmeyr, Sergei Rachmaninoff and Ludwig van Beethoven in South Africa and Botswana next month.
The ensemble will perform at the Linder Auditorium (Johannesburg), Brooklyn Theatre (Pretoria), Maitisong Theatre (Gaborone), City Hall (Cape Town) and Endler Hall (Stellenbosch) from 2 to 12 October.
As conducted by South African conductor Albert Horne, the group will perform compositions such as ‘Ingoma’, ‘Thula, Babana’ and ‘Qongqothwane’. Megan-Geoffrey Prins is the ensemble's soloist.
“The mission of the youth orchestra is to foster the musical talent of young and gifted instrumentalists by introducing them to orchestra practice and by improving their musical capabilities through extensive coaching,” Rheinland-Pfalz Youth Orchestra manager Jens Bastian told Music In Africa.
“We toured the country in 1998 and performed at the then Nico Malan Opera House in Cape Town, Endler Hall in Stellenbosch, Kimberley Theatre and the Johannesburg City Hall as well as the Old Mutual Hall in Pretoria," he said. "The youth orchestra is also excited to be joined by local musicians Shaheema Lakay from Cape Town and Jakob Holm from Stellenbosch, who already rehearsed and performed with us in Germany during our July rehearsal/workshop period.”
Bastian expressed excitement about the group’s coming to South Africa and Botswana. “We are thrilled to be able to regularly visit various beautiful countries and to perform in breathtaking concert venues around the globe. South Africa and Botswana are both no exceptions to the rule,” he said. “We have contact with so many talented and successful musicians from Africa here in Germany and we often hear about the warmth, generosity, beauty and hospitality of these two countries. We therefore agreed that we would be honoured and privileged to share our musical gifts with the people of South Africa and Botswana and get to experience all of the things that make a visit to Africa unforgettable.”
Commenting on the state of orchestra music in South Africa, Bastian said: “One hears a lot about the difficulty of obtaining arts funding in South Africa and that the financial scales are obviously (and understandably) often rather tipped in the direction of social development in the country. This makes it even more remarkable to see how South African musicians work together to create and preserve a classical music environment and cultural scene, despite looming financial difficulties.
“I was privileged to gain first-hand experience in witnessing the incredible outreach projects run by various organisations such as the South African Youth Orchestra, the Johannesburg Youth Orchestra and the music centre of the Outreach Foundation in Hillbrow, Johannesburg.”
Tickets to the Johannesburg and Stellenbosch concerts are available via Computicket. Pretoria and Gaborone tickets can be obtained via the Gau Festival and Maitisong websites respectively.
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