FESTIVAL FACULTY
| Guest Conductors: |
Alexander Kalajdzic (Germany) |
|
| Victor Yampolsky (Russia) | ||
| Celebrity Guests: | Nataniel (South Africa) | |
| Nico Panagio (South Africa) | ||
| Violin: | Ivry Gitlis (Israel) | |
| Daniel Rowland (Holland, U.K.) | ||
| Priya Mitchell (U.K.) | ||
| Suzanne Martens (South Africa) | ||
| Farida Bacharova (South Africa) | ||
| Zanta Hofmeyr (South Africa) | ||
| Viola: | David Snaith (South Africa) | |
| Klaus Christa (Austria) | ||
| Cello: | Thomas Carroll (U.K.) | |
| Peter Martens (South Africa) | ||
| Anmari van der Westhuizen (South Africa) | ||
| Double Bass: | Leon Bosch (U.K.) | |
| Piano: | Luis Magalhães (Portugal) | |
| Nina Schumann (South Africa) | ||
| Bennie van Eeden (South Africa) | ||
| Horn: | Abel Pereira (Portugal) | |
| Pamela Kierman (South Africa) | ||
| Trumpet: | Rik Ghesquière (Belgium) | |
| Oboe: | Gary Roberts (South Africa) | |
| Bassoon: | Lecolion Washington (USA) | |
| Flute: | Ingrid Hasse (Austria) | |
| Corvin Matei (Romania, South Africa) | ||
| Clarinet: | Carina Nyberg (Sweden) | |
| Percussion: | Suzette Brits (South Africa) | |
| Marta Klimasara (Poland) | ||
| Workshop Presenter: | Magdalena Roux (South Africa) |
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ALEXANDER KALAJDZIC was born in Zagreb, Croatia. He started piano lessons at the age of six and after only two years tuition, embarked on a regular concert career. As a young pianist he won several prestigious awards which enabled him to continue his studies at the Musikhochschule in Vienna, where he studied piano, viola, correpetition (the art of accompaniment) and conducting. His mentor was Prof Karl Ősterreicher. Kalajdzic received his degree cum laude.
As a student, his musical activities were already diverse: he was leading Summer-Courses for the "Jeunesse Musicale" in Croatia and conducting the Philharmonic Orchestra of Zagreb as well as the Orchestra of the Croatian Broadcasting Co-operation. He was a keen accompanist to Lieder performers and also coached opera singers, thus learning the technique of correpetiteur at an early stage in his life.
His musical career soon brought him to Germany, both as correpettiteur and conductor at the Theatre in Krefeld – Mőnchengladbach. Other posts followed, such as conductor in München as well as at the National Theatre in Weimar, and more recently in Mannheim as correpetituer and conductor of the National Theatre. He has worked as guest-conductor with various orchestras in U.S.A. Mexico, South Africa, Italy and France.
As a pianist, his repertoire ranges from early Baroque to contemporary and of particular significance to him is the music of French composers, Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel. He has conducted almost the entire oeuvre of Debussy and Ravel's orchestral works.
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Esteemed teacher, conductor, and violinist, VICTOR YAMPOLSKY serves as Music Director Emeritus of the Omaha Symphony, Carol F. and Arthur L. Rice Jr. University Professor in Music Performance at the Northwestern University School of Music, Music Director of the Peninsula Music Festival in Door County, Wisconsin, as well as the Honorary Director of the Scotia festival of Music in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Born in the Soviet Union in 1942, Yampolsky — the son of the great pianist Vladimir Yampolsky — studied violin with the legendary David Oistrakh at the Moscow Conservatory and conducting with Maestro Nicolai Rabinovich at the Leningrad Conservatory. He was a member of the Moscow Philharmonic as both violinist and assistant conductor, under the direction of renowned Maestro Kyrill Kondrashin.
Yampolsky emigrated from the Soviet Union to the United States in 1973, where a recommendation from conductor Zubin Mehta led to an audition for Leonard Bernstein, who offered Yampolsky his scholarship at the Berkshire Music Center in Tanglewood, Mass. Two weeks later Mr. Yampolsky a position in the violin section of the Boston Symphony. He was later appointed the orchestra's principal second violinist.
In 1977, Mr. Yampolsky became music director of the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and was the conductor of the Young Artists Orchestra at Tanglewood. Two years later he became Adjunct professor of violin and director of orchestras at the Boston University School of Music. Since 1979, he has participated in the Scotia Festival of Music in Halifax as violinist and conductor, celebrating festival's 25 years with the performance of Oliver Messiaen "TURANGALILA" Symphony on 13th of June, 2004.
Yampolsky has conducted over 65 professional and student orchestras throughout the world, including repeated engagements with orchestras in the United States, Canada, Spain, Portugal, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan and Chile. Recent engagements include his debut with the Eugene, Oregon Symphony and return visits to Symphony Nova Scotia, Halifax, Canada, Orquesta Sinfonica de Chile, KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic and Cape Philharmonic including lectures and master classes at: Emory University, University of Akron, University of Victoria, Stellenbosch Conservatory, as well as St.Petersburg Conservatory, Russia.
Since 1984, Yampolsky has been Director of Orchestras at Northwestern University, finishing 20 years of service with the performance of Mahler's 9th Symphony on 4 June, 2004. In 1992 he founded the Storioni Ensemble, a professional string ensemble in residence at Northwestern University. Since 1986, Yampolsky has been Music Director of the Peninsula Music Festival, in Door County, Wisconsin. In 1994 he served as Principal Conductor of the National Symphony orchestra in Johannesburg and from 1995 until 2004 he served as Music Director of the Omaha Symphony, a period of significant artistic growth for the orchestra. In 2002, Yampolsky led the Omaha Symphony in its debut recording, Take Flight. He holds an honorary doctorate from University of Nebraska at Omaha and Doane College in Crete, Nebraska.
Yampolsky has recorded for Pyramid and Kiwi-Pacific Records.
Victor Yampolsky currently lives in Evanston, Illinois, with his wife, Carol, and two children.
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To many he needs no introduction. Israeli violinist IVRY GITLIS was presented with his first violin at the age of five. Bronislav Huberman heard him play three years later and encouraged him to pursue his musical studies in Europe. The young Gitlis studied with Jacques Thibaud, Georges Enescoand Carl Flesch, in Paris and as a war refugee in London, where he was to make his European debut at the Royal Albert Hall. His first American tour, underwritten by Sol Hurok, paired him with Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra and George Szell and the New York Philharmonic.
Ivry Gitlis has performed with the world's finest orchestras: Vienna, Berlin, London, New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Toronto, Israel, Leningrad, Tokyo, Paris, Amsterdam, with leading conductors including Zubin Mehta, Daniel Barenboim, Jascha Horenstein, Michael Tilson Thomas, Eliahu Inbal and Charles Dutoit, to name but a few.
His debut recording, Alban Berg's concerto "To the Memory of an Angel" received the Grand Prix du Disque. Subsequent recordings, many of which until their recent re-releases had become sought-after collectors items, have included the concertos of Paginini, Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn, Stravinsky, Bruch, Sibelius, Wienawski and the Bartok Concerto and Solo Sonata for which he received the Best Record of the Year award from the New York Herald Tribune.
Although perhaps less widely known as a chamber player, Ivry Gitlis has made music with a wide range of artists over the past few decades from Jascha Heifetz, Gregor Piatigorsky, William Primrose, members of the Amadeus and Budapest String Quartets, Isaac Stern and Leonard Rose to Stephen Isserlis, Truls Mork, membersof the Hagen Quartet, Gary Hoffman, Mischa Maisky and Martha Argerich, with whom he recorded the Franck and Debussy Sonatas.
Ivry Gitlis is also a renowned pedagogue giving master classes all over Europe and beyond, regularly spending summers at the Mozarteum in Salzburg and in France where he has created memorable festivals. A frequent contributor to the cinema as a composer as well as an actor, he has worked with the likes of Truffaut and Schlondorff. In 1981 his autobiographical book, L'Ame et la Corde was published to unanimous critical acclaim. In 2001 he was one of the artists featured in Bruno Monsaingeon's film, "The Art of the Violin". Tony Palmer's 2004 film on Ivry Gitlis was premiered at the Prague Spring Music Festival where it was heralded by the Oscar-winning director Andrea Andermanas "the best artist's profile I have ever seen". And, most recently, he was honored in 2004 as part of the Festival devoted to great violinists of the 20th century, at the Louvre Museum in Paris.
Based in Paris, Ivry Gitlis performs extensively throughout the world. His triumphant return to the London stage in 1996 after a long absence marked the 50th anniversary of his Wigmore Hall debut and an unforgettable experience for many. From "Gitlis electrifies the Wigmore" (TheStrad) to "A performance rich in weird and wonderful gestures... staggeringly effective" (The Independent) and "From Gitlis they heard only music no praise can be higher" (The Daily Telegraph), critics and audience alike seemed to agree on the immense impact of a unique personality.
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DANIEL ROWLAND (London, 1972) grew up in the Netherlands studying with Davina van Wely and Viktor Liberman at the Amsterdam Conservatoire and with Igor Oistrakh at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels. He also worked intensively with Herman Krebbers, Ruggiero Ricci and Ivry Gitlis. Having won various national and international prizes, such as the "Brahms Prize" of the Brahms Society in Baden-Baden and the prestigious Oskar Back competition at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, he made his concerto debut at the Concertgebouw in 1992 performing the Tchaikovsky Concerto. Since then Daniel has developed a versatile career as a sought after soloist, chamber musician and teacher. In July 2007, he joined the renowned, London based Brodsky String Quartet as their new first violinist. The Brodskys have an international performing and recording schedule schedule with concerts in Australia, the far east and throughout Europe in '08-'09.
As a soloist Daniel Rowland has performed in venues like the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Carnegie Hall in New York, the Royal Albert Hall in London, the Glinka Hall in St. Petersburg, Symphony Hall in Birmingham and the Gulbenkian in Lisbon, in a repertoire ranging from Vivaldi to the big romantic concertos to Lutoslawsky, Ferneyhough and Piazzolla. He has worked with conductors such as Boreiko, Khakidze, Liberman, L. Foster, Holliger, F.X Roth, Yampolsky, Masson, Markiz, Laughran and Van Zweden, performing with orchestras in Oporto, Bratislava, Poznan, Glasgow, Istanbul, Lisbon, Baden-Baden, Basel, Johannesburg, Durban, St. Petersburg, Amsterdam, Antwerp and The Hague. In September 2008 Daniel made a highly successful tour of South Africa, performing with the orchestras in Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town and Pretoria, leading to immediate re-invitations, as well as recording the Vivaldi/Piazzolla 8 Seasons.
Daniel is keenly interested in 20th and 21st century music and has performed as a soloist with ensembles such as the Nieuw Ensemble (Amsterdam), Musikfabrik (Köln), and Contrechamps (Geneva). Highlights include the Berg 'Kammerconcert' (Geneva, May '08, Holliger) and in '08-'09 Saariaho's "Graaltheater" (Geneva, 'May 09) Ferneyhough's "Terrain" and Berio's Sequenza VIII (Wigmore Hall, '08). In demand as an orchestra leader, he is frequently invited to guest-lead major orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic, the Philharmonia, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Rotterdam Philharmonic working with conductors like Haitink, Muti, Pletnev, Dohnanyi, Ashkenazy, Dutoit and Gergiev. As soloist/director he has several times worked with the Gulbenkian Orchestra Lisbon, Camerata Scotland, the Chamber Orchestra of South Africa, the London Mozart Festival Orchestra, among many others. Daniel is a visiting professor at the Royal Scottisch Academy of Music & Drama in Glasgow, and at the Superior School in Castelo Branco, Portugal. He has given many master classes in Holland, the UK, Italy, Hong Kong, Australia, Portugal and South Africa. A passionate chamber musician, Daniel founded in 1997 the Amsterdam Chamber Ensemble, which has it's own subscription series in Amsterdam. Daniel is a frequent guest at chamber music festivals including Stellenbosch, Zilina, Perth, Povoa de Varzim, Trecastagni and Oxford. In 2005 he founded the "Stift Music Festival" - which combines a chamber music festival with intensive masterclasses- at an idyllic spot in the eastern Netherlands.
His violin is by Lorenzo Storioni, Cremona, 1793.
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'One of the foremost violinists of her generation' (The Strad), PRIYA MITCHELL grew up in Oxford and studied with David Takeno at the Yehudi Menuhin School and with Zachar Bron in Germany.
She was then chosen as the British representative of the European Concert Halls Organisation 'Rising Stars' Series, giving recitals in Paris (Cité de la Musique), Vienna (Konzerthaus), Frankfurt (Alte Oper), Amsterdam (Concertgebouw), Brussels (Palais des Beaux-Arts), Birmingham (Symphony Hall) and New York (Carnegie Hall). This success led to highly acclaimed tours and performances with, amongst others, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, London Mozart Players, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and the Philharmonia.
She has worked with conductors such as Sir Andrew Davis, Yuri Temirkanov, Richard Hickcox, Emmanuel Krivine, Heinrich Schiff and Yan Pascal Tortelier.
Abroad, Priya has worked with the Belgian Radio and Television Philharmonic, Sinfonia Varsovia, the Polish Chamber Orchestra, Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Australian Chamber Orchestra, the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra and the Deutsche Sinfonie-Orchester.
As a recitalist and chamber musician, Priya has performed extensively at international music festivals including Schleswig-Holstein, Schubertiade Schwarzenberg, Kuhmo, Lockenhaus, Risør, Heimbach, Ravinia, Lugano, Cheltenham, Bath and Stavanger.
In 2008/2009 she performed in chamber music concerts with Maria João Pires at the Wigmore Hall, in the Eindhoven Festival and at the Schloss Elmau Chamber Music Festival. Forthcoming engagements include performances at the Salle Pleyel in Paris, the Jewish Museum in Berlin, and at the Trondheim and Kuhmo festivals.
She opened the Cheltenham festival with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra in July this year and gave a critically acclaimed performance with the BBC Ulster Orchestra in August at the Kilkenny Festival in Ireland.
In July 2000 Priya launched her own festival - the Oxford Chamber Music Festival - of which she is Artistic Director. The Independent acclaimed, 'This is a festival that should really put Oxford on the map of the classical music world.'
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SUZANNE MARTENS studied violin at the University of Pretoria under Prof. Alan Solomon. In 1991, was a member of the winning trio in the Oude Meester Chamber Music Competition. She furthered her studies in Holland under Jan Repko (Academie Minerva, Groningen) and in Austria under Lavard Skou-Larsen (Mozarteum, Salzburg), where she was also a member of the Salzburger Musici Chamber Orchestra. Until June 2000, Suzanne held the position of associate concertmaster in the now defunct New Arts Philharmonic Orchestra Pretoria and was also a founder member of the Chamber Orchestra of South Africa. In June 2001, she was appointed concertmaster of the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra. Suzanne is married to well-known cellist, Peter Martens and is currently a lecturer in violin at the Department of Music, Stellenbosch University.
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FARIDA BACHAROVA graduated with distinction from the Gnesin Musical Pedagogical College and later from the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory. She became the youngest female concertmaster in Russia, performing with the 'Maly' Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra. She also performed with the USSR Ministry of Culture Symphony Orchestra, and the Moscow Academic Philharmonic Orchestra. She was the soloist for more than forty performances of ballets such as The Golden Age, The Nutcracker and Swan Lake in Tokyo's Metropolitan Hall. As a solo recitalist in Moscow, Farida performed in the Chamber Hall, Rachmaninoff Hall and White Hall with internationally-acclaimed pianist, Natalie Trull.
During twelve years of experience performing in Russia and on international tours, Farida appeared as a soloist for ballets and as a symphonic soloist in many of the world's major halls, including, among others, Fischer Hall and Carnegie Hall in New York, Champs d'Elysees in Paris, Consertgebou in Amsterdam, Berlin's Schauspiel Haus, Gevandhause in Leipzig, Tonhalle in Zurich as well as the Moscow Conservatory Main Hall and Tchaikovsky Hall, working with conductors such as Yehudi Menuhin, Vladimir Ashkenasy, Seiji Ozawa, Gennardi Rozdestvensky, Kurt Mazur, Eugene Svetlanov, Claudio Abbado, Vladimir Ponkin, Bernhard Gueller, Valery Gergiev, Yuri Temirkanov, Yuri Simonov and Roman Koffman, A highlight of her orchestral career was a joint-concert with the New York Philharmonic, under the baton of Zubin Metha.
Farida joined the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra in 1995, and in 2000, she became the guest concertmaster and soloist for the CTSO. She is an Associate Professor at UCT's South African College of Music, as head of Strings and Orchestral studies, as well as Guest Leader of the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra.
Farida is fundamental in the promotion of the SACM's string department across South Africa and abroad and is extremely active in training various groups and preparing her students for international exposure. She maintains an active schedule as a chamber musician, the Cape Town Trio and the Bacharova Quartet, as well as various ensembles.
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ZANTA HOFMEYR graduated from The Juilliard School of Music in New York where she was a student of Dorothy Delay and Hyo Kang. She gave her New York debut at Carnegie Recital Hall (now called Weil Recital Hall) as a winner of the Artists International Competition.
Born and raised in South Africa as the eldest of eight children, she studied violin with Vincent Frittelli until she left for the United States at the age of 17. Her first concerto appearance with orchestra was at age 14 in a performance of the Wieniawski Concerto in d minor. During that time her chamber music mentors were Betty Pack and Allan Solomon.
Since her return from the United States in 1985, she has been a prolific performer and teacher in South Africa and abroad. She has on a number of occasions appeared as guest artist and teacher at the Kinhaven Chamber Music Festival in Vermont in the United States.
She has regular appearances as soloist with the Artscape Philharmonic and Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestras as well as other symphony orchestras in South Africa. A strong proponent of new compositions, she gave the South African premiere of "Raptus" by Hendrik Hofmeyr with the Artscape Philharmonic Orchestra in 2002 and in 2005 with the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2007 she gave the first South African performance of Hendrik Hofmeyr's "Nelle mani d'Amduscias" for solo violin in Johannesburg.
She includes a lot of chamber music in her concert schedule. As a member of the Musaion Piano Trio, she toured extensively in South Africa and the Netherlands in 2004. She also performed in the chamber concerts of the annual International Classic Music Festival in Cape Town and Pretoria. In 2007 she performed and taught at the International Chamber music Festival held at the University of Stellenbosch.
From her extensive recital repertoire her performances with pianist Malcolm Nay of the 10 Beethoven violin sonatas and all-Brahms and Prokofiev recital programmes stand out as particular highlights. They recently performed the three Grieg sonatas at the Grahamstown Festival(2007) as part of the centenary celebrations of Grieg's death.
She has collaborated with some of the foremost jazz musicians in South Africa such as Denzil Wheal, Surrendran Reddy, Wessel van Rensburg, Mark Duby, Denis Lalouette and Rob Watson. She is also a member of the Salon Five ensemble.
Zanta is committed to supporting young talent. In 2000 she helped establish the Dithaga Music Project in Ga-Rankuwa. From 2000, she held the chair of associate professor of violin at the University of Pretoria for five and a half years, whereafter she resigned in order better to balance her concert and teaching careers. She still teaches at the University in a part-time capacity.
She is the recipient of numerous awards, scholarships and bursaries. Most recently she was awarded the Rapport/City Press "Woman of the Year" award (2004) and the ATKV "Afrikoon" award (2005).
Zanta loves roses and was particularly honoured when Ludwig Tassner presented her with a new "Zanta Hofmeyr" rose in 2003.
Her recordings include "Zanta Hofmeyr plays Arioso" with organist Wim Viljoen and "Romantic Violin" with pianist Malcolm Nay.
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DAVID SNAITH studied at the Royal College of Music, London, taking viola with Frederick Riddle and conducting with Vernon Handley. He received awards for 20th Century Chamber Music performance and won the Ricordi conducting prize. Prior to entering the RCM he was a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain for 2 years and violist of a string quartet which won an award for its performance of Dvorak’s “American” Quartet. Whilst at the RCM David was the violist in a piano quintet, principal viola of The Chelsea Chamber Orchestra and a member of two 20th Century music groups, performing chamber works by Richard-Rodney Bennet, John Cage, Peter Maxwell-Davies and first performances of works by Oliver Knussen, notably his Quartet for Flute and String Trio. He was twice selected for the Jeunesses Musicales World Youth Orchestra and was principal viola for their performance of Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring”. David has held principal positions in various orchestras, notably The Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Welsh National Opera (where he was the violist in a string trio), the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and the National Opera of Belgium (where he was also a member of the Aria Ensemble, specialising in Baroque music). He has worked under conductors such as Sir Adrian Boult, Sir George Solti, Sir Colin Davis, Sir Simon Rattle, John Pritchard and Paavo Bergland. He joined the CAPAB orchestra as principal viola and was a member of the Cape String Trio. David was subsequently appointed as Head of Strings at the Beau Soleil Music Centre in Kenilworth, a post he held for 15 years. During this time he continued his chamber-music activities and was a member of the Cape Town Sinfonietta. He has coached the viola section on several South African National Youth Orchestra courses and conducted the StringOrchestra on the 1987 course. Presently holding the position of Principal Viola in the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra David is the violist with The Amici String Quartet and performs regularly with the Cape Town based chamber orchestra Camerata Tinta Barocca.
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KLAUS CHRISTA studied at the Musikhochshulen in Vienna and Hannover with Hatto Beyerle, complimented by further study with Wolfgang Klos and Gerard Caussé. He has appeared as principal violist with the St.Gallen Symphony Orchestra on a regular basis. In 1995 Klaus was appointed as proffessor of viola and Chamber Music at the Vorarlberger Landeskonservatorium in Feldkirch, Austria and has been head of the string department since 1999. Chamber music and solo engagements include concerts at the Schubertiade Hohenems Festival, the Bregenzer Festival as well as in the Vienna Konzerthause. Chamber Music partners include Sofia Gubaidulina, Karl Leister, Norbert Täubl, George Crumb and the Vertavo String Quartet. Together with Thomas Engel, he initiated the sucsessful chamber music series, „musik in der pforte“ of which he is the Artistic Director. Klaus Christa has also been the Artistic Director of the Feldkirch Viola Symposium for several years. He has also participated in many world premiers including radio broadcasts as well as CD productions. Apart from his present position as principal viola of the Voralberg Symphony Orchestra and regular quartet engagwements, Klaus Christa is also in demand as a soloist and chamber musician.
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Born in Swansea, THOMAS CARROLL studied with Melissa Phelps at the Yehudi Menuhin School and with Heinrich Schiff in Austria. An exceptionally gifted cellist, he is one of only two artists who auditioned successfully for both Young Concert Artists Trust in London and Young Concert Artists, Inc. in New York. He has since gone on to give critically acclaimed debut recitals at Wigmore Hall (London), Alice Tully Hall (NY) and in Boston, California, Florida and Washington DC.
As a concerto soloist Thomas has appeared with the London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, London Mozart Players, ViVA, Orchestra of the East Midlands, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra (conducted by Heinrich Schiff), English Chamber Orchestra, Prague Philharmonic, Sofia Philharmonic, and Bayerischer Rundfunk Orchestra.
Much in demand as a chamber musician, Thomas has worked with the Belcea Quartet, Chilingirian Quartet, Endellion Quartet, Yehudi Menuhin, Ivry Gitlis, Gidon Kremer, Steven Isserlis, Mischa Maisky, Michael Collins, Julian Rachlin at Wigmore Hall, the Edinburgh and Cheltenham International Festivals, among many others. His recordings include Michael Berkeley's String Quintet with the Chilingirian Quartet for Chandos.
Engagements over the last year have included concerts at Wigmore Hall, the Louvre in Paris, Konzerthaus in Vienna, the Dubrovnik Festival, Bath MozartFest, Mecklenburg Festival and The International Chamber Music Festival in Utrecht with Janine Jansen, Julian Rachlin and Ensemble. Thomas has also given a series of concerts in Tokyo under the auspices of YCA Inc, been resident at the Delft Festival in Holland and appeared as soloist with the BBC Concert Orchestra at the Queen Elizabeth Hall (broadcast by BBC Radio 3), Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra and Orchestre Regional de Cannes. In August he made his debut with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in a series of performances of Shostakovich's Concerto No.2. This season Thomas returns as soloist with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, performs the Dvořák with the Staatsorchester Braumschweiger, Vivaldi Double Concerto with Heinrich Schiff and the Vienna Chamber Orchestra and gives recitals at the Cheltenham Festival and in Holland, Ireland, France, Belgium, Sweden and Japan.
Thomas is currently a Professor at the Royal College of Music in London and the Yehudi Menuhin School.
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PETER MARTENS studied with Dalena Roux at the University of Stellenbosch, whilst still at school, and later with prof. Heidi Litchauer at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. In 1989 he won a scholarship to Interlochen, U.S.A., where he led the cello section of the World Youth Orchestra. He also had master classes with Heinrich Schiff, William Pleeth and Ivan Monigetti. From 1990 to 1993, Peter studied in Salzburg during which time he was the principal cellist of the chamber orchestra, Salzburger Musici and solo cellist of the Austrian Ensemble for Modern Music. On his return to South Africa, Peter took up the position of co-principal cellist of NAPOP (New Arts Philharmonic Orchestra Pretoria) and principal cellist of the Chamber Orchestra of South Africa. In 2001 he took up the position of principal cellist of the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra and resigned from the post in January this year to take up the positions of Artistic Administrator and Director of the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival at the University of Stellenbosch. He remains a very active soloist and chamber musician. He performed his first concerto with the CTSO at the age of 15 and has since performed as soloist and chamber musician all over South Africa. Peter has taught as a part-time lecturer at the University of Stellenbosch, UCT and the University of Pretoria. He has recorded much solo and chamber music for the SABC and has recently released a CD on “Cello Classics” with the cello sextet I Grandi Violoncellisti. Peter is also a member of the Lyric Piano Trio, the Amici String quartet and Bass-ically Brilliant with bassist, Leon Bosch. In 1995 Peter replaced the injured cellist of the Osiris Piano Trio in a tour of South Africa playing the Beethoven Triple Concerto. In 1002/3 he gave a number of very successful performances of the 6 unaccompanied Bach Suites in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban, Pietermaritzburg and Salzburg. The success of the Salzburg performances coupled with the success of a series of chamber music concerts there has lead to an open invitation to return for similar concerts on an annual basis. Peter plays on a Locky Hill Cello. A successful and exciting chamber music partnership with internationally acclaimed soloists, Benjamin Schmid and Ariane Haering in 2006 has paved the way for some more exciting concerts in the future. Future engagements for 2008 include invitations to teach and perform in Salzburg, the Stift Festival in Holland, Portugal and various solo and chamber music engagements in South Africa. studied cello with Prof. Heidi Litchauer at the Mozarteum, Salzburg. During his time in Salzburg, he was solo cellist of the Austrian Ensemble for Modern Music and principal cello of the Salzburger Musici Chamber Orchestra. He also had master classes with Heinrich Schiff, William Pleeth and Ivan Monigetti. Peter was co-principal cello of NAPOP (New Arts Philharmonic Orchestra Pretoria) and principal cello of the Chamber Orchestra of South Africa. He is presently the principal cello of the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra, while maintaining a very active career as soloist and chamber musician. In addition, he is also a part time cello lecturer in Cello Performance and Orchestral Studies at the University of Cape Town, having previously occupied a similar position at the University of Pretoria. Peter has recorded solo and chamber music for the SABC and has made two CD's with his group "Cellissimo" in Pretoria.
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Distinguished South African cellist, ANMARI VAN DER WESTHUIZEN, obtained her BMus(Hons) degree cum laude from Stellenbosch University. She furthered her studies at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria, where she obtained the “Grosses Konzertdiplom” as a student of Prof. Heidi Litschauer and at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne, Germany, where, as a student of Maria Kliegel, she received the “Konzertexamendiplom.” She also received both the Performer’s Licentiate and the Teacher’s Licentiate from the University of South Africa, both with distinction. Anmari made her overseas concert début in Salzburg in 1990 and from 1988 till 1996 performed regularly as a soloist and chamber musician during her stay in Salzburg and Vienna. In Vienna she was also a member of the Ensemble Music-on-Line and the Koehne Streichquartett, and regularly appeared at international festivals such as the Wiener Festwochen, Klangbogen (Vienna), Festival di Nuova Consonanza (Rome), Catalonian Festival (Spain) and the Australian Festival of Chamber Music. At present, Anmari lectures at the SA College of Music, University of Cape Town, while still maintaining an active career as soloist and chamber musician in South Africa and abroad. Two Austrian composers, Werner Schulze and Hannes Heher, have invited her to perform solo contemporary works by Austrian and South African composers at the Faroe Islands Festival for Classical and Contemporary Music and in Vienna during July 2007. She has performed the world première of Hendrik Hofmeyr’s Cello Concerto as part of the MIAGI Festival 2007. Since 1999, Anmari has been the conductor and director of the UCT String Ensemble. She is also a founding member of the UCT Trio, the Collage Ensemble and I Grandi Violoncellisti cello ensemble. South African composers Hubert du Plessis, Roelof Temmingh and Hendrik Hofmeyr have each dedicated works to Anmari. During June 1999 she gave the world première of “Nachtmusik” for cello and organ by the Austrian composer, Hannes Heher, in Vienna. She is married and has two little boys and a baby girl.
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LEON BOSCH has an honoured place among the select group of virtuoso double bass players worldwide. Concerto engagements in many parts of the world with the likes of conductors Pinchas Zukerman, Nicolas Kraemer, Nicolae Moldoveanu and Guido Johannes Rumstadt have been matched by collaborations with a long line of leading chamber music groups - among them the Lindsay, Belcea and Brodsky string quartets, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble, the Moscow Virtuosi and the Zukerman Chamber Players. Partnerships with solo performers have embraced such pianists as Peter Donohoe, Vladimir Ovchinikov, Mikhail Rudy and Maria João Pires. Leon Bosch has a growing discography of concerto and recital recordings. This will shortly include two albums devoted to the music of the great Giovanni Bottesini and two featuring music by British composers. Then will follow everything from a disc of Russian music and another of compositions by Domenico Dragonetti, to the complete works for solo double bass by Dittersdorf, Menotti's concerto and recordings of a string of neglected concertos for the instrument.
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Portuguese pianist, LUIS MAGALHÃES, started playing piano at the age of five, receiving tuition from Eduardo Rocha, José Alexandre Reis, Pedro Burmester and Vladimir Viardo, as well as masterclasses from, amongst others, Helena Sá e Costa, Paul Badura-Skoda, Dimitri Bashkirov and Alicia de Larrocha.
Mr. Magalhães has won several prizes at national and international competitions, including first prize at the Maria Campina Competition, second prize at the Juventude Musical Portuguesa Competition, second prize (Chamber Music) at the Jóvens Músicos Competition, honorary mention at the Helena Sá e Costa Competition, as well as second prize for the best performance of Russian music and best performance of Rachmaninoff at the 2002 Russian Music International Piano Competition, USA. In 2001 he was awarded the National Medal for Cultural Achievements by the Mayor of Famalicão, Portugal.
A concert pianist since the age of nine, Mr. Magalhães has given numerous recital, concerto and chamber music performances in Europe, Asia, South America and Africa, rendering rave reviews. He also regularly appears in concert with his wife, pianist Nina Schumann having recorded together a CD with the complete works for two pianos by Sergei Rachmaninoff under Universal Music label.
Mr. Magalhães is a lecturer in piano at the Department of Music, Stellenbosch University (South Africa).
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Following her first appearance with orchestra at the age of 15, NINA SCHUMANN's talent quickly captured the public's attention and she rapidly established herself as one of South Africa's foremost pianists, receiving piano tuition from Lamar Crowson, Vitaly Margulis and Vladimir Viardo. Ms. Schumann has won every major South African music competition and scholarship/prize, including the Oude Meester Music Prize, ATKV Forte Competition, Oude Meester National Chamber Music Competition, Wooltru Scholarship, Adcock-Ingram Music Prize, SAMRO Overseas Scholarship, Jules Kramer and Harry Crossley Overseas Bursaries, as well as the SABC Music Prize. In addition, she has also participated in several international competitions, including the Morocco International and UNISA/Transnet International Piano Competition, during which she reached the semi-final round and was awarded three special prizes, one of which was as the Most Promising South African Pianist. Besides having more than 150 concerto performances with orchestras in South Africa, Europe and the USA to her credit (and some 35 concertos in her repertoire), she is also a very active chamber musician and soloist and regularly appears in concert with her husband, pianist Luis Magalhães. In 2006 Nina Schumann and Luis Magalhães released a CD with the complete works for two pianos by Sergei Rachmaninoff under Universal Music label. Nina is currently appointed as Professor and Head of Piano at the Department of Music, Stellenbosch University (South Africa).
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BENNIE VAN EEDEN passed all his UNISA piano exams with distinction and went on to obtain the Teacher's Diploma, BMus and HonsBMus degrees cum laude from Stellenbosch University. As a student he received numerous prizes and awards, most notably the FAK Music Bursary (twice), the Conservatoire Stipendium and a Merit Award for the best overall fourth year student at university. He taught at the Wellington Teachers' Training College and since 1988 has been appointed as lecturer in Piano and Piano Literature at Stellenbosch, filling the post of his erstwhile teacher, Betsie Cluver. Bennie studied with some of South Africa's foremost pianists and teachers, viz. Lamar Crowson and Laura Searle (UCT) and John Antoniadis (US), under whom he commenced the Master's degree in Piano Performance. He participated in international piano competitions in Pretoria and Bolzano, Italy. A versatile musician and performer, Bennie is known for his solo and chamber music performances, especially as a member of the highly regarded Collage ensemble. He has also accompanied some of South Africa's foremost singers, including Aviva Pelham, Nellie du Toit and Andre Howard and international singers such as Julia Bronkhorst. He has been featured on the SABC and regularly performs at major arts festivals around South Africa. He acts as an examiner for UNISA and is a founder member of the Hennie Joubert National Piano Competition.
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Since his first solo performance at the age of 11, ABEL PEREIRA has appeared as a soloist with orchestras, in chamber ensembles and in recital throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, South America and the Middle East. He studied at the University of Oporto with Bohdan Sebestik and in Germany with Marie Luise-Neunecker and also received tuition from Hermann Baumann, Stefan Dohr, Jeffrey Bryant, Radovan Vlatckowich, the Prague Horn Trio and the German Horn Ensemble. He was awarded numerous prizes in various international competitions, including Leeuwarden (Holland), Makneukirchen (Germany), Concertino Praha (Czeck Republic) and first prize at the Young Musicians Awards, presented by the RDP (Portugal). From 1995 to 2001, he performed with the European Community Youth Orchestra, appearing in some of the most prestigious venues in Europe: the Royal Albert Hall in London, the Musikverein in Vienna, the Berlin Philarmonie (as principle horn), La Scala in Milan, the Citè de la Musique in Paris and the Conzertgebouw in Amsterdam. In addition, he has worked with such distinguished conductors and soloists as Carlo Maria Giulini, Mstislav Rostropovich, Bernard Haitink, Sir Colin Davis, Vladimir Askenazy, Claudio Abbado, Emanuel Ax, Radu Lupu, Marta Argerich and Barbara Hendriks.
In 1998, Abel was awarded the coveted EUYO Master Prize by Vladimir Ashkenazy, Bernard Haitink and Prof. Lutz Kohler. He has performed as a soloist with some of Europe's finest orchestras and has recorded for various European radio and television stations. In 2001, he recorded a CD with contemporary pieces for solo horn and piano and in 2002, recorded the Mozart horn concertos with the Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra. Since 1996, Abel has presented master classes in Lisbon, Santa Maria da Feira, Lousada, Caldas da Rainha, Mirandela, Macau, Bombay, Cabo Verde, the UK, at the Bisyoc International Festival. In 2004, he was invited to perform as soloist in the International Horn Festival in Spain. He is a founder member of the Artziz Quintet and the Oporto Brass Quintet and teaches at the Professional School of Music in Espinho and at the Superior School of Arts in Castelo Branco. He is currenlty principal horn of the Oporto National Orchestra. During the 2003/4 season, Abel performed in recitals in Portugal, Spain, Brazil, UK, Estonia and France. His future engagements for the 2004/5 season include concerts in Portugal, the UK, Spain, Brazil, Switzerland, Germany and South Africa and a new recording of recital pieces with piano accompaniment.
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PAMELA KIERMAN graduated with a BMus in Musicology from the University of Port Elizabeth in 1983. As French hornist she was a member of the Prince Alfred's Guard Band and thereafter First Horn of the CAPAB Orchestra in Port Elizabeth. She taught brass in the band programme at Alexander Road High School until 1987. Whilst at Hoërskool Voortrekker, she participated in the upgrading of the SACC Band in Wynberg, now the SA Army Western Province Command Band. In 1991 she became Head of the Plumstead High School Music Department, launching a highly successful band training programme there. She was for some years active as first horn with the UCT Wind Symphony, the UCT Symphony Orchestra and the Cape Sinfonia, and has played occasionally with the CAPAB Orchestra, the CTSO and the CTPO. She became Head of Brass at the Beau Soleil Music Centre in 1998 where she expanded the brass programme and conducted the Junior and Intermediate Wind Bands. She was appointed to the Brass Lectureship at the University of Stellenbosch in 2004. Her duties at Stellenbosch include extensive work with the brass practical studies of the Certificate Programme (a bridging course) at the university and she is the conductor of the Stellenbosch Symphonic Wind Ensemble. She remains active as a hornplayer, performing with various orchestras including the semi-professional wind band, Windworx, conducted by Sean Kierman, of which she is also a committee member. She is the deputy-president of WASBE for 2007 and is a committee member of the South African Horn Society, which organised 38th International Horn Symposium held in Cape Town in 2006. In addition, she is a member of the horn quintet, Oceans 5, which had it’s debut at the Horn Symposium held at the University of California Santa Barbara in January 2006.
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RIK GHESQUIÈRE, respected, Flemish trumpeter, conductor and brass specialist studied with Norbert
Nozy, Lucas Vis and Frank Shipway. In 2000, he received a diploma in Orchestral Conducting at the Brussels
Music Academy, an accolade, previously only awarded by the Academy in 1998.
Rik regularly appears as a guest conductor with several orchestras. In 1988, during Europalia Japan, he was asked to coach the brass band, which he also conducted at the Tokyo Embassy. His conducting engagements have taken him from Spain to Slovakia and in 2001, he was asked by the city of Bonn to take part in the opening ceremony of the Beethoven Festspiele.
He is presently the principal trumpeter of the Brussels Philharmonic and the Flanders Radio Orchestra (het Vlaams Radio Orkest).
He regularly participates in festivals throughout Europe, where he’s known as an inspiring and multi-talented musician.
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GARY ROBERTS is currently Principal Oboe and Artistic Director of the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra.
In 1978, Gary won a Foundation Scholarship to study at the Royal College of Music and received a BMus (Hons) degree from London University in 1981. Whilst studying at the RCM with Sarah Francis and Roger Lord, Gary won the Lathan Koenig prize and a French Government Scholarship to study with Pierre Pierlot in Paris.
Gary came to South Africa as a founding member of the Natal Philharmonic Orchestra (now the KZNPO) and was appointed Principal Oboe of the National Symphony Orchestra of the SABC in 1987.
As a soloist Gary has performed with the JPO, Chamber Orchestra of South Africa, NSO of the SABC and the NPO. As a keen chamber musician Gary has performed extensively throughout SA.
An experienced teacher, Gary has taught at the University of the Witwatersrand, the University of Pretoria and the University of Natal (now KZN); Gary was also involved with the Buskaid Project in Soweto for over five years.
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LECOLION WASHINGTON received his BM in Music Studies from the University of Texas at Austin and a MM in Orchestral Performance from the Manhattan School of Music. He also did further study at Southern Methodist University. His principal teachers have included Kristin Wolfe Jensen, Frank Morelli, and Wilfred Roberts. Washington has performed with the Austin Civic Chorus Orchestra, New Texas Festival Orchestra, Mid-Texas Symphony, Garland/Las Colinas Symphony Orchestra, and Victoria Symphony Orchestra where he was principal bassoon. While in New York City, Washington performed with the Riverside Symphony Orchestra and the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra as principal bassoonist. He has won orchestral auditions with the Houston Grand Opera and Shanghai Broadcasting Orchestra, performed with the Memphis Symphony and currently serves as co-principal bassoon of the Missouri Chamber Orchestra. In addition to performing chamber music with principal players from the New York Philharmonic, Professor Washington has performed chamber music with the Circadia Wind Quintet, New York Chamber Ensemble, and the North Country Chamber Players with principal players from such orchestras as the Minnesota Orchestra, the Orpheus Chamber Ensemble, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. In 2004, The Orchestral Performance Program at the Manhattan School of Music invited him to perform on a chamber music concert of distinguished alumni. Professor Washington has attended the Texas Music Festival, Cape May Music Festival, and the International Festival Institute at Round Top where he was the Concerto Competition Winner. He also won the Southern Methodist University Concerto Competition. Professor Washington has given recitals and master classes at The University of North Texas, Baylor University, and The University of Texas at Austin. He served as the Assistant Professor of Bassoon at the University of Missouri-Columbia and bassoonist for the Missouri Wind Quintet, before joining the Memphis Wind Quintet and faculty of the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music in 2004.
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INGRID HASSE was born in Pretoria, South-Africa and studied at the University of Pretoria under John Hinch. As a student she won several bursaries as well as first prize in the Pretorium Trust Competition and the National Forte Competition. She made several radio recordings in this period and graduated (Bachelor of Music with distinction) in 1985. As from 1986 she studied at the renowned Mozarteum in Salzburg, firstly with Marianne Adorjan, and since 1987, with Irena Grafenauer. In 1990 she received her Concert-Diploma with distinction.
Ingrid has participated in Master Classes with James Galway, Peter-Lukas Graf, Trevor Wye and Robert Dick. In 1987 she joined the Camerata Academica Salzburg (conductor Sandor Vegh) making several CD-recordings as well as touring to Italy, Germany, France, Belgium and Japan. In 1991 she became a member of the "Mozart-Ensemble of the Salzburger Festspiele" under Sandor Vegh and in 1992 she deputized in the "Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra" at the Salzburg Festival.
Concerto engagements include performances with the Mozarteum Orchestra (Salzburger Festspiele), Salzburger Kammerorchester and Concertino Salzburg. Ingrid is also much in demand as a teacher having given master classes in Austria and Japan as well as for the South-African Flute Society. She is currently principal flautist of the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, a position she has held since 1993.
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Conductor, Flute player and esteemed teacher, CORVIN MATEI is the founder and Music Director of the Cape Town Concert Orchestra and the Music Director of the Stellenbosch University Symphony Orchestra. Born in Romania in 1953, he matriculated with distinction from the Bucharest High School of Music, majoring in Flute. He auditioned successfully at the Bucharest Conservatoire of Music, where he remained until 1976. During this period of his studies, he gave numerous flute and chamber music recitals, recorded for Romanian Radio-Television and was invited to attend international festivals in Germany (including Bayreuth), Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, France, Spain and Italy. He also attended orchestral conducting courses and master classes with prominent Romanian conductors. After graduating with a Master’s Degree from the Bucharest Conservatoire in 1976, Matei auditioned and was appointed at the “G. Enescu” Philharmonic Orchestra, where he played for seven years under conductors such as Celibidache and Mazur, amongst others. During his seven years with this orchestra, he also appeared as soloist with other leading orchestras in Romania and taught flute at the Bucharest High School of Music. It was during this time that he became interested in conducting and attended Witold Rovitscki’s Summer Master Classes in Vienna, and Celibidache’s Master Class in Bucharest. He also recorded intensively for Romanian Radio-Television, and was awarded first prize in the Romanian National Competition in 1976 and 1983. After defecting Romania in 1983, he studied conducting with Professor Erich Kluge form the Cologne Conservatoire and performed both as soloist and conductor with the Cologne Chamber Orchestra during their tour to Southern France. In 1985, after auditioned in Germany, Corvin Matei was appointed Principal Flute of the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra where he played for twelve years. During this period he also performed in solo concerts with the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra, the CAPAB Chamber Orchestra and the Bloemfontein Symphony Orchestra. In 2001, for over a year he played Principal Flute with the new Cape Philharmonic. He has also recorded for the SABC, and his first CD, Music for Flute and Harp has proved to be a great success. In the same year he was awarded a PhD by the University of Cape Town. From 1997, after studying with Bernard Gueller (one of Celibidache’s best students), Matei has started a busy conducting schedule. He conducted the Sans Souci Orchestra, which performed numerous concerts in Cape Town Metropolitan area, and in a very successful production of “The Sound of Music”. The orchestra was awarded the coveted SAMRO Trophy in the 1999 Eisteddfod. In 2000, he was appointed Head of the Woodwind Department at Beau Soleil Music Centre and has conducted the Beau Soleil Symphony Orchestra for over three years. During this period he conducted numerous concerts at the City Hall in Cape Town and at various other venues, his repertoire ranging from Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy to Peter Louis van Dijk’s The Selfish Giant. In 2003, he participated in a Conducting Workshop held by Dr. Laszlo Maroszi from Florida University, and was chosen as one of the two conductors (from 28 conductors), to conduct at the Gala Concert. In the same year, he had his debut with the University of Stellenbosch Symphony Orchestra in two very successful concerts, and he was appointed Music Director of the Cape Sinfonia. In 2004 Dr Matei was appointed as a senior flute lecturer at the Stellenbosch University Department of Music, and Music Director of the symphony orchestra. In the same year, he started his international career as a conductor, when he was invited to conduct three of Romania’s leading professional orchestras. In 2004, under his direction, the Stellenbosch University Symphony Orchestra won the category of best symphony orchestra, and it was the only symphony orchestra among 46 orchestras, to perform at the gala concert at the prestigious Tygerberg Competition. At present Dr Matei has a busy conducting schedule in South Africa and abroad.
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Swedish clarinetist, CARINA L.N. WASHINGTON, received her Diploma in Orchestral Performance from the Royal Danish Academy of Music and her MM in Clarinet Performance from the University of Memphis. Her principal teachers have included Michael Schlyter, Bendt Neuchs Sorensen, Jorgen Jensen, Lee Morgan, Daniel Gilbert, and James Gholson.
While in Scandinavia, Washington was a freelance musician performing with such groups as the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Danish Philharmonic, the Copenhagen Cantata Orchestra, and the Norwegian State Army Band. Before moving to the United States in 2003, Washington served as co-principal clarinet with the Danish Radio Sinfonietta. With them, Washington performed on several recordings and performed at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. After moving to America, Washington served two seasons as co-principal clarinetist of the Missouri Chamber Orchestra and currently performs regularly with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, the Arkansas Symphony, and the Delta Symphony. She has performed under the baton of such conductors as, Curt Sanderling, Christopher Hogwood, and Robert Spano.
As a chamber musician, Washington has co-founded several chamber groups including the prize-winning Trio Linnéa, and the PRIZM Ensemble of Memphis, which will hold its first chamber music festival in Memphis this summer. She has participated in chamber music concerts throughout Europe and North America including venues in Paris, Stockholm, and Oslo. Washington recently joined the Memphis Woodwind Quintet, ensemble-in-residence at the University of Memphis.
Washington has attended the International Festival Institute at Round Top, Thy Chamber Music Festival (Denmark), and traveled throughout Germany and Holland as the principal clarinetist of the Jeunesses Musicales World Orchestra. As a soloist, Carina Washington has performed with the University of Memphis Symphony Orchestra and with the Södra Latin Symphony. She accepted an invitation to perform at the 2008 International Clarinet Association (ICA) Annual Clarinet Fest in Kansas City, MO. She has performed recitals across the United States and has given master classes at the University of Arkansas and Arkansas Tech. Washington has been awarded such prizes as the Lilla Alfvén Prize, Jacob Gades Stipend, Augustinus Fonden Grant, and the Månssons Legat Grant.
She can be heard on the Albany Records recording of music for bassoon by African-American composers featuring her husband Lecolion Washington, and she performed on the Highwater Classics recording of German Lieder featuring Susan Owen-Leinert.
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It was her outstanding musical qualities which led the jury of the ARD contest in Munich to honour MARTA KLIMASARA with the first prize in the percussions discipline in the autumn of 2001. The Polish musician, who also won the - all time first - prize of the public this year, is endowed not only with winning charm and personality but also with great artistic sensitivity and polyvalence: she masters the soft, sometimes even intimate sound of the marimba with as much assurance as all the other challenges of the manifold percussion instrumentary with its almost endless arrangement possibilities.
It was by no means clear from the beginning that Marta Klimasara would become a percussionist: a piano student in her home town of Sosnowiec, she took up percussions at the age of twelve and was rewarded, four years later and whilst studying under Krzystof Jaguszewski, with several national prizes; she soon started on a solo career with the Silesian Philharmony in Kattowitz. To pursue her studies under professor Klaus Treßelt at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Stuttgart she moved to Germany in 1994 and has since been living in the capital of Baden-Württemberg. In 2004 she became professor at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Stuttgart.
Today Marta Klimasara is a highly acknowledged percussionist, famed also outside the borders of her new home; her international renown rests not only on her tournées in France, Sweden, Japan and South Africa but also on her many successes in international contests. Before winning the ARD contest - one of the most famed competitions in its field - she had already been awarded the first prize in the 2nd World Marimba Competition in Japan in 1999 as well as the second prize in the 3rd Krzystof Penderecki International Competition of Contemporary Music in Krakow. The young artist holds scholarships from the Yamaha Music Foundation of Europe and the Kunststiftung Baden-Württemberg and was commended by the European Cultural Foundation in Strasburg for her outstanding musical and artistic personality.
Marta Klimasara takes part in concerts with orchestras such as RSO Stuttgart, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, National Philharmony Warsaw, National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the RSO Saarbrücken and is a guest on many international festivals in cities including Vienna, Paris, Warsaw and St. Petersburg. She also produces radio and television recordings with the Bavarian and Hessian radio institutions, with the SWR, France Musique, SR 2 KulturRadio and Deutschlandradio.
Her solo debut recording I Ching was released in spring 2002 with triptychon.
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SUZETTE BRITS started her percussion studies with Victor Gebhart at the age of eleven. As a student, she was a percussionist for several orchestras, including the National Youth Orchestra and the SASC Youth Orchestra, with whom she went on a concert tour through South America. Following her studies, she was a percussionist for the CASAP and Cape Town Symphony Orchestras. Since 1986 she has been appointed as lecturer in percussion at the Hugo Lambrechts Music Centre and since 2001 has also served as percussion lecturer at Stellenbosch University. Several of her students were overall winners of prestigious competitions and have received international scholarships. In 1998 she undertook a concert tour through Europe with her percussion ensemble. Suzette is responsible for many eisteddfod syllabi as well as the syllabus for the University of South Africa. She performs as an adjudicator at eisteddfods and music competitions on a regular basis. She has performed in America, France and Germany, where she has close bonds with the Hochschule fUr Musik in Stuttgart. She regularly receives invitations to Stuttgart from Prof. Klaus Tresselt and Prof. Marta Klimasara.
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MAGDALENA ROUX obtained a Bachelor of Music degree in the performing arts with Cello as major from the University of Pretoria in 1975. During her student years (1972-1975) she won various scholarships for academic as well as artistic achievements and she was also the solo cellist of the University of Pretoria Symphony Orchestra. The most important of these scholarships were the Leopold Premyslav Scholarship for string players in 1974 and the UNISA Scholarship for overseas studies, after obtaining their Teachers' Licentiate Certificate in 1976. During 1976 she was a member of the then SABC Orchestra in Johannesburg. In 1977 she moved to Europe to study at the Mozarteum Music School, Salzburg, Austria, under Prof Heidi Litschauer, obtaining the First Diploma (1978) and the Second or Concert Diploma for Cello (1980), both with distinction In 1980 she was one of two students chosen to perform a concerto with orchestra in Salzburg, and took a special prize for high artistic achievement from the Austrian Ministry for Science and Culture. In 1981 she continued her studies on a Swiss scholarship under Prof Guy Fallot at the Conservatoire de Genéve in the post graduate Virtuosité class. She abandoned Switzerland after one and a half years, on being offered an appointment as a part-time lecturer in Cello at the Stellenbosch University, where she was promoted to junior lecturer in 1983, lecturer in 1986 and senior lecturer since 1996. Over the past 25 years she has regularly returned to Europe to attend master classes herself, actively so when she was younger, and lately as observer. On these visits to Europe she also acts as assistant teacher to Prof Litschauer at Master Classes in Neuberg, Austria. During January 2004 Ms Roux taught at the famous Mozarteum in Salzburg,Austia as part of an official teacher exchange program with US. She also taught one week of cello Master Classes in Logrono, Spain in December 2004. As a result of this active contact to Europe quite a few post- and undergraduate students from mainly Austria and Germany have spent one or more semesters in Stellenbosch to study with her. A few students have also come privately for shorter, more intense periods of study. Over the years numerous of her students in SA have been successful as cellists, winning scholarships and being accepted for further study in music schools in Europe, the UK and America. A number of them are presently following successful careers in Europe and even more are playing and teaching in South Africa – some also teaching cello at the other tertiary institutions in SA. Magdalena Roux was a regular soloist as well as an enthusiastic member of the Stellenbosch Baroque Ensemble over many years. Her focus now however, is mainly on the research of and the teaching of cello at all levels of playing. The basis of her teaching philosophy is using the principles of the Alexander Technique in cello playing.
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Guest Artists
South-African singer/songwriter/entertainer NATANIËL launched his solo career in 1987 with the release of his first single, Maybe Time. Since then he has released 13 albums, staged more than 50 original theatre productions and published 10 books.
Over the past decade he has not only established himself as producer, director, designer, playwright and public speaker, but as South Africa's leading exponent of the solo stage act.
An outspoken and controversial figure, he continuously crosses over from the alternative circuit to the main stage, generating extensive media coverage and a massive cult following.
Nataniël manages Kaalkop Trading, his lifestyle manufacturing company, and records on his own independent label, Nataniël House Of Music.
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Brief stints on Egoli as well as Generations, preceded what would be the start of a long term contract with the soapie 7de Laan where he played businessman George Kyriakis. He has also performed in various theatre productions around the country. He soon realised that he had a talent for presenting and started honing his skills as a master of ceremonies. He is a frequent guest-speaker for various events ranging from fashion shows and golf days to special occasions and corporate functions. His corporate clients have included amongst others - Landrover, ABSA, Volvo, MTN, SAB, Seeff, SABC and many more. He was the Master of Ceremonies for the Miss South Africa pageant 2006 and performs as MC on a weekly basis. After 5 very educational and formative years on the Laan he decided to say fare-well to George and join the Top Billing Team as presenter.
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