Young musicians impress at the Castle
CANDICE BRADFIELD
THE 13th Classics at the Castle was a full house with 85 tickets sold, despite the rain, the Bathurst Show and the rugby.
Hamburg to Hamburg was an Easter concert featuring oboist Paulus van der Merwe, flautist Helen Vosloo and cellist Caleb Vaughn-Jones with Jen Hoyer accompanying on the harpsichord. Pupils from The Keiskamma Music Academy (KMA) also took part.
YOUNG TALENT: Keiskamma Music Academy pupil Zimhitha Nompunga (right) was accompanied by Caleb Vaughn-Jones on the cello at the Classics at the Castle Easter concert on Saturday |
Van der Merwe was the first to perform with Loeillet's Sonata for oboe and basso continuo accompanied by Hoyer and Vaughn-Jones. The sonata started out soothing and upbeat and became playful as it progressed.
He was followed by KMA pupils who performed solo and in a quartet. The audience was thoroughly impressed by the talent shown by these children, one of whom was as young as 10 years old.
Vosloo and Van der Merwe went up to perform Telemann's Trio Sonata in F major which was well received. After an excellent piece by the KMA's quartet, Vosloo and Van der Merwe played an interesting composition by Telemann where one musician follows one bar behind the other forming a beautiful and pleasing melody.
Van der Merwe is visiting from Hamburg in Germany where he is the principal oboe player in the North German Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Wagner Festival Orchestra, as well as a renowned international soloist and recording artist. He said he has had a wonderful time in so far in Hamburg in the Eastern Cape where he has been helping at KMA.
Vosloo is known locally as the founder the KMA and is also one of South Africa's leading classical musicians having performed in several orchestras. 
Vaughn-Jones is from the United States but is currently living in Port Elizabeth where he is the principal cellist of the Easter Cape Philharmonic Orchestra.
Hoyer is KMA's musical director. She is originally from Canada where she performed and taught, as well as being a founding member of Bella Baroque Ensemble. She has been teaching at Hamburg since August 2011.