Thanks to a long-awaited windfall from Lotto the Eastern Cape Philharmonic Orchestra is able to present a symphony season to round off this year, starting with a symphony concert this weekend.
The orchestra will present From Opera to Brahms at 3pm on Sunday Oct 21 at the Feather Market Centre under the baton of conductor David Scarr.
“After three long years of waiting impatiently, we finally heard from the National Lotteries Commission that they had allocated some funding to us,” ECPO manager Gill Barnett said.
She said, although the grant was less that a quarter of what the orchestra had applied for in 2015, they were grateful as Lotto had originally allocated it no funding for concerts.
“After submitting a ‘deviation’ request, and another long wait, we eventually got the go-ahead to present two symphony concerts [so there was] a collective sigh of relief all round!”
From Opera to Brahms features two solo opera singers “celebrating our wonderful local talent” accompanied by orchestra.
“Our two soloists will be voice lecturers from Rhodes and Nelson Mandela Universities, respectively Jo-Nette Le Kay and Njabulo Mthimkhulu,” Barnett said.
From Mozart to Verdi via Rogers & Hammerstein and more, she said the audience could expect an exciting mix of arias, duets and orchestral works. The second half will feature the the beautiful music of Brahms’ Second Symphony.
Le Kay performed Sunday’s arias in Hamburg at the Last Night of the Proms in 2012.
“These pieces are about heroines who are completely in love and will do anything for the men they are in love with,” she said.
Mthimkulu – performing with Le Kay for the first time – said the performance would be a treat for the city.
The second ECPO concert Celebrate the Philharmonic! will be on Sunday December 2, also at 3pm in the Feather Market Centre.
Conducted by Alex Fokkens, this will feature the new ECPO concertmaster David Bester as soloist playing Bruch’s 1st violin concerto followed by Franck’s Symphony in D Minor.
“We will also be using this concert to mark the 20th anniversary of the founding of the ECPO in 1998. Through many ups and some serious ‘downs’ we’re thrilled to be able to celebrate this remarkable milestone,” Barnett said. Tickets for From Opera to Brahms are on sale at Computicket for R90 and R110 with a limited number of pensioner and pupil tickets at R75.