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.

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.

The Endler Concert Series is proud to present the KOMPOS Chamber Music Concert on 4 June at 20h00 in the Endler Hall.

KOMPOS is an organization of that strives to realize performances of student works. Each semester sees a concert of premiers of works by the composition students of Stellenbosch University.

The theme for this concert is: “The Self and Reflection: Politics is DEAD!” The programme includes innovative compositions featuring varied ensembles including a Flute Duo, String Quartet, Wind Quintet and an eclectic ensemble that consists of Violin, Clarinet, 2 Pianos and Percussionist.

Tickets for R50 (regular) and R30 (students and pensioners) are available now through Computicket and at the door one hour before the show. 

Sunday 12 June, 16h30: International Artists Violin & Piano Recital

Rachel Lee Priday will replace the indisposed Kristóf Baráti for his upcoming tour to South Africa.

Acclaimed for her beauty of tone, riveting stage presence, and “irresistible panache” (Chicago Tribune), violinist, Rachel Lee Priday will be performing in the Endler Concert Series on Sunday 12 June at 16h30. She will be partnered by the American born pianist Bryan Wallick, lauded by critics as “virtuoso, brilliant and intense”.

The first half of the concert will include Beethoven’s Violin Sonata no. 9 in A Major, commonly known as the “Kreutzer” sonata and Prokofiev Violin Sonata no. 1 in F minor. These two works are of the most well loved of their genre, the joyous and exuberant ending to the Beethoven work a perfect antidote to the dark and sombre sonata by Prokofiev. The second half commences with Beethoven Violin Sonata No. 7 in c minor followed by one of Sarasate’s most popular compositions and a favourite among violin virtuosos, the Zigeunerweisen (Gypsy Airs). Sarasate was himself a virtuoso violinist and although he lived into the 20th century, his music is not at all avant-garde, but Romantic, operatic and flashy much like the music of Paganini.

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

Sunday 19 June, 16h30: Ekaterina Levental – mezzo soprano & harp

The Endler Concert Series welcomes the remarkable Ekaterina Levental on Sunday 19 June, at 16h30 in the Fismer Hall, Stellenbosch. Not only is Ekaterina an excellent harpist, but also a mezzo-soprano with a beautiful, rich, dark voice. In this recital Ekaterina performs both solo works for harp as well as works for harp and voice.

The eclectic programme includes works from the late 19th and 20th century by great French composers such as Ravel and Satie, Russian composers such as Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Shostakovich, Rachmaninov and Glinka as well as works by Zemlinsky, Britten, Pierné and Weill. Ravel is one of the few composers known for his significant use of the harp in chamber music and his sublime French Impressionistic style is indeed a medium through which the harp speaks most beautifully. The Russian composers and Benjamin Britten are all admired as master composers for the human voice, the combination with harp here suggesting the exploitation of the most exquisite timbres Art song can deliver.

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.