SA: Young musicians vie for SAMRO honours

The young semi-finalists will now be flexing their fingers in preparation for the semi-final round at UNISA’s ZK Matthews Hall in Pretoria on 24 August ahead of the much-anticipated final on 26 August at the same venue.

The musicians who have made it in the Western art music category include Peter Cartwright, Willem de Beer, Lourens Fick, Megan-Geoffrey Prins and Bronwyn van Wieringen (all piano), as well as Neil Robertson (organ).

Lifa Arosi, Elizabeth Gaylord, Blake Hellaby, Teboho Kobedi, Ntando Ngcapo, Thandi Ntuli and Nicholas Williams will compete in the jazz category.

“Due to an unusually strong field of candidates combined with a tough adjudication process, for the first time in the competition’s 55-year history more than 12 candidates were selected to proceed through to the semi-finals round,” SAMRO Foundation managing director André le Roux said. “This was as a result of the marginal call between the adjudicators’ scores and their ranking of candidates. Therefore it was decided to allow ‘the magnificent seven’ candidates instead of six in the jazz category.”

Arosi, Williams, Prins and Robertson are making repeat appearances this year. Arosi, Williams and Prins participated in 2013 while Robertson took part in the instrumentalists contest last year.

“The fact that these four gifted instrumentalists have entered again demonstrates not only the prestige attached to this competition but also their tenacity,” Le Roux said. “Through this competition and our other programmes we are steadily growing the SAMRO alumni to include young musicians who feel they have a welcoming and nurturing home in the organisation together with many of our other cultural ambassadors.”

Newly appointed SAMRO CEO Nothando Migogo said: “We pride ourselves on remaining closely involved in the career trajectories of these bright young stars as they navigate their way through the ranks of the local and, often, the global music industry.”