South African clarinettist Maria Du Toit is widely regarded as one of South Africa’s foremost clarinettists and finest export musicians. After having been the principal clarinettist of the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra for 13 years, she now lives in the Netherlands where she is pursuing a solo and chamber music career across Europe. Internationally acclaimed, Head of Piano at Stellenbosch University, Nina Schumann, needs no introduction to local audiences. Solo career and academic life aside, Schumann tirelessly contributes to the musical and cultural life of Stellenbosch with her visionary artistic leadership of both the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival and the Piano Symposia hosted by the Music Department.

In this concert Maria and Nina will be performing an exciting programme, which will include the Sonata for clarinet and piano from the South African composer Peter Klatzow – a unique feature of the programme. The programme also includes works by Kovacs – Hungarian Folk Song and Variations; After you, mr. Gershwin!; Sholem-alekhem, rov Feidman!; Lutoslawski’s Dance Preludes; Johnson’s Colour Keys for solo clarinet; and Horovitz’s Sonatina for clarinet and piano.

Be sure not to miss this powerhouse combination of musicianship and worldclass homegrown talent.

Tickets for R140 (regular) and R100 (students and pensioners) are available now through Computicket and at the door.

For more information contact Fiona Grayer at concerts@sun.ac.za or 021 808 2358.

The publication Music and Musicians describes them as “A brilliant British duo…….no praise could be high enough…….. brilliantly fleet and entertaining…….performed with infectious verve and spirit” whilst The Times states “……..a volume and scale of expression comparable to that of an orchestra”.

For this concert they offer a varied recital of not only standard works but also their own distinctive transcriptions: Saint-Saens’ Scherzo, Op. 87 and Polonaise, Op. 77; Shostakovich’s Concertino, Op. 94; and their own transcriptions of Ravel’s Introduction & Allegro and the famous Bolero.

Tickets for R140 (regular) and R100 (students and pensioners) are available now through Computicket and at the door.

For more information contact Fiona Grayer at concerts@sun.ac.za or 021 808 2358.

On Wednesday 19 October at 20h00 the celebrated duo, cellist, Anzél Gerber and pianist, Ben Schoeman present a programme of masterpieces of the cello repertoire. The programme for this concert will include Schumann’s Adagio & Allegro, Schubert’s Arpeggione sonata, Shostakovich’s famous Cello Sonata and the brilliant Pezzo Capriccioso by Tchaikovsky. There will also be an art exhibition in the foyer of the Endler hall, of works by Annalie Heburn Wesson and Willie Jacobs. Tickets for R140 (regular) and R100 (students and pensioners) are available now through Computicket and at the door.

On Friday 21 October at 20h00 the Endler Concert Series in collaboration with KOMPOS celebrates the fresh new orchestral works of Stellenbosch’s young music composers. The theme of ‘Dreams’ has been the source of inspiration behind this concert’s eclectic tapestry of musical creations. Composers have been collaborating with the Stellenbosch University Wind Band and the chamber orchestra of Stellenbosch, who will be premiering the works. KOMPOS is also proud to have the visual arts of Stellenbosch’s fine art and design students accompany the music. Art will be on sale during the interval and after the concert. Tickets for R50 (regular) and R30 (students and pensioners) are available now through Computicket and at the door.

On Sunday 23 October at 16h30 you can hear the Cape Town based Juliet String Quartet.

Patrick Goodwin (violin), Annien Shaw (violin), Emile de Roubaix (viola) and Babette Roosenschoon (cello) are four of South Africa’s top “generation-Y” musicians. Having collectively trained in South Africa, England, Austria and the United States of America, they have worked and performed together for over ten years in various orchestras, ensembles, projects and competitions. For this concert they will perform Beethoven’s  String Quartet Op. 18 no. 4 in c minor; Mendelssohn’s String Quartet Op. 44 No. 1; Puccini’s Crisantemi – an elegy for string quartet; and a new work by Antoni Schonken entitled String Quartet no.2: a 29-year old security guard. While Schonken’s technical palette draws on musical tropes that are often centuries old, his reconfiguration of those ideas imbues his music with a distinctly postmodern sound. Tickets for R140 (regular) and R100 (students and pensioners) are available now.

All concerts are in the Endler Hall, Konservatorium, Stellenbosch.

For more information contact Fiona Grayer at concerts@sun.ac.za or 021 808 2358.

Their programme will open with the Trio Elegiaque no. 1 in g minor by Rachmaninoff – a lugubrious single movement work that pre-empts the more famous piano trio Op. 9 in which Rachmaninoff pays tribute to his mentor Tchaikovsky. Tchaikovsky’s mammoth Piano Trio is one of the truly great Romantic masterpieces for this genre, but perhaps because of the virtuosity required to perform it, is less seldom heard in concert than concert goers might like. Between these two trios, Trio Elegiaque will aptly include the Piano Trio no. 2 by Shostakovich. This trio is full of emotion attributable to the Second World War, the opening harmonics in the cello part perhaps symbolizing the desolation and cold of Siberia to the aggression of the second movement depicting the terrors of the fighting itself.

The concert takes place on Friday 23 September at 20h00 in the Endler hall.

Tickets for R140 (regular) and R100 (students and pensioners) are available now through Computicket and at the door.

For more information contact Fiona Grayer at concerts@sun.ac.za or 021 808 2358.

The evening will open with Sea Songs, by Ralph Vaughn-Williams, Dyptych, also by van der Roost and Themes from the Overture to the Magic Flute, arranged by Mike Hannickel. The text for Lank, lank gelede, originally in Flemish, has been translated into Afrikaans by Karin Maritz, adding a local flavor to this Belgian/South African collaboration.

USSWE will share the Endler stage with the Paarl Boys Primary School Choir and the renowned ERUB Children’s Choir, trained and conducted by ex-Matie, Martjie Burger, and former lecturer in the music department, Keith Jenneker, respectively. Parts for narrator, and actors will see the involvement of the Stellenbosch University Drama Department. The narrator will be played by Prof. Petrus du Preez, head of the Drama Department at the University.

Internationally acclaimed Belgian conductor, Rik Ghesquière will conduct this unique performance. This is the third year in which he will be working with the University of Stellenbosch Symphonic Wind Ensemble (USSWE) as guest conductor. Rik is also principal trumpeter in the Brussels Philharmonic and divides his time between playing and conducting both choirs and orchestras in Europe.

Learners from local primary schools are invited to attend this exciting evening, which will see traditional Fairy Tales “come to life” on the Endler stage.

Refreshments will be on sale during the interval.

Tickets for R50 (regular) and R30 (students and pensioners) are available now through Computicket and at the door. For more information contact Fiona Grayer at concerts@sun.ac.za or 021 808 2358.

Originally from Cape Town, Myles has completed his Bachelor of Music and Master of music degree, majoring in flute performance at Stellenbosch University under the tutelage of Prof. Corvin Matei. He is currently living in Milan, Italy and finishing his studies at the Civica scuola de musica under the guidance of Maestro Raffaele Trevisani.

Sulayman is currently enrolled for a Master of Music (Solo Performance) degree at Stellenbosch University under the tutelage of Nina Schumann and Luis Magalhães.

Myles and Sulayman will be performing a varied programme, consisting of Sonatas by Cesar Franck and Liebermann. The Violin Sonata by Cesar Franck is arguably the most popular sonata ever written by a French composer. Its charm and depth of emotional content has inspired many instrumentalists to transcribe the violin part for their instrument. This sonata has thus become popular in its violin, cello and flute guise. The second half of the programme consists of a selection of concert pieces such as the Grand Polonaise by Boehm, Air Valaques by Doppler, Dutilleux’s Sonatine, Mozart’s Andante, a Madrigal by Gaubert and the Stiffielio variations by Rabboni.

Doppler has in the absence of great Romanic composers’ works for the flute filled this gap with a multitude of fantastically virtuoso works for the instrument. Liebermann, having been commissioned to write at least three works for Sir James Galway is perfect example of a great modern composer who writes virtuoso but idiomatic music for flute.

Tickets for R140 (regular) and R100 (students and pensioners) are available now through Computicket and at the door one hour before the show.

The festival – the biggest of its kind in Africa – is presented from 1 to 10 July at the Stellenbosch University Konservatorium. It boasts a unique concert series including music that has never been performed in South Africa. Besides chamber music, the SICMF will also present three symphony concerts.

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About 300 music students will attend the 2016 festival where they will receive master classes, lectures and coaching sessions from the 30 faculty members, which include internationally acclaimed musicians.

The programme has six South African premieres, as well as the world premiere of local composer Matthijs van Dijk’s commissioned work, Moments in a Life. It is based on the life of anti-apartheid activist Denis Goldberg, who will appear on stage as the narrator.

In Moments in a Life, Goldberg relates various pivotal moments in his life – from childhood, his time in Umkhonto we Sizwe, the Rivonia Trial, experiences in prison up until the inauguration of former president Nelson Mandela.

Among the other interesting premiere works is Techno Parade by French composer Guillaume Connesson (born 1970), in which Paolo Barros (flute), Ferdinand Steiner (clarinet) and Pieter Grobler (piano) will perform.

Also on the programme is Distant Light, a concerto for violin and string orchestra, a work by Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks, who was born in 1946. Violinist Daniel Rowland will be the soloist, accompanied by, among others, Suzanne Martens and Farida Bacharova (violins), Tobias Breider (viola) and Alexander Buzlov (cello).

Other works include the String Sextet in A major, Op.48, by Dvořák; Mendelssohn’s String Quartet No.6 in F minor, Op.80; as well as the String Octet, Op.7, by George Enescu.

On Friday, 8 July American conductor Kazem Abdullah will lead the Festival Symphony Orchestra in a performance of orchestral music by Debussy and Bartók. Austrian clarinettist Ferdinand Steiner will perform Mozart’s well-known Clarinet Concerto in A major.

The SICMF’s other orchestra, the Festival Concert Orchestra (consisting of 180 young musicians) under the baton of Daniel Boico, will perform on Saturday, 9 July. On the programme is Tchaikovsky’s Second Symphony (excerpts), as well as well-known orchestral works like the “Mars” and “Jupiter” movements from Gustav Holst’s The Planets, and the popular “Pomp and Circumstance” by Edward Elgar.

For the final concert on Sunday, 10 July the Festival Symphony Orchestra will be on stage again, this time acclaimed French violinist Nicolas Dautricourt will be the soloist in Saint-Saëns’ Violin Concerto No.3.

Tickets are available from Computicket, or call  021 808 2358 to purchase a festival pass. Visit www.sicmf.co.za for more information.

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