The Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival (SICMF), touted as Africa’s premiere classical music festival, combines the music of today with icons of the past.
The coming together of some of the world’s finest musicians in at the Stellenbosch University Konservatorium every July is the opportunity for the SICMF artistic director Prof Nina Schumann to programme without limitation.
For those who relish the opportunity to hear new music played at an international standard, the prospects of hearing, Widmann, Philip Glass and Oli Mustonen again are mouthwatering.
These composers’ works grace the stages of Europe’s top music festivals and their music has been brought to South Africa by the SICMF in recent years.
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Premieres aplenty
This year the SICMF is presenting no fewer than 11 South African premieres by composers such as Pavel Karmanov, Ante Grgin and Fasil Say.
The latter’s trio, Jump, is a wonderful example of contemporary Impressionism by one of the most excentric concert pianist composers alive. It will be played by Daniel Rowland (violin), Maja Bogdanovic (cello) and pianist Schumann.
This year’s commission is by the young award-winning South African composer, Owen Dalton.
The world premiere of Dalton’s A Tough Tale will be played by a large ensemble comprising almost all of the SICMF faculty artists, bolstered by a number of top SICMF student participants.
Xandi van Dijk will conduct the group while Tereska Muishond narrates her poetry as well as poetry by Antjie Krog and Mongane Wally Serote integrated into the composition.
Fusion of times
None of this new music would enjoy the status it does if it weren’t for the context of sublime and brilliant standard repertoire that supports it. Schumann has again done a fine job of integrating the old and the new.
For those who come to the festival for their fix of live classics, Mozart’s Quintet for Piano and Winds, played by Titus Underwood (oboe), YaoGuang Zhai (clarinet), Julia Harguindey (bassoon), José Garcia Gutiérrez (French horn) and Pieter Grobler (piano) is for you.
Other works from the standard repertoire stable include Cesar Franck’s piano quintet, Brahms Op 115 Quintet in a special arrangement just for strings, and Mendelssohn’s effervescent concerto for violin and piano to name just a few.
Orchestras on stage
The SICMF runs from Friday 3 to Sunday 12 July. It concludes with a weekend of orchestral concerts featuring the student participants with concerto soloists, David Cohen (cello), Miclen LaiPang (violin), Emanuil Ivanov (piano) and Siwoo Kim (violin).
The Festival Symphony Orchestra will be conducted by Michael Repper, with its main work on the programme being Mahler’s first symphony.
The Festival Concert Orchestra, playing works by Tchaikovsky, Bruch and Bizet, will be conducted by Karin Hendrickson, and the newly formed Festival Symphonic Wind Orchestra – under the baton of Liam Burden – will play works by Phillip Sparke, Eric Whitacre, Paul Heart, Lize Briel and Martin Elerby.
Tickets for all the concerts are now available via Webtickets. Also visit www.sicmf.co.za for the full programme and more information.
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