Every year a 100 -piece Festival Concert Orchestra (FCO) of the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival performs a free concert at a venue in one of our surrounding communities. This traditionally takes place on the final Sunday of the SICMF. In the past, successful FCO concerts have been held in Khayelitsha, Cloetesville, Jamestown, Macassar, Athlone and most recently in 2024, at the Klapmuts Primary School. This year, on Sunday 13 July at 12:00, the free concert will take place at the Kayamandi High School.
In 2013, on the 10th Anniversary of the SICMF, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu performed together with the FCO and said, “I was deeply moved as I looked at those kids from the so-called informal settlements playing those instruments. It says wow – we have such fantastic potential. What an amazing country we have it in us to become.” He became a patron of the SICMF and remained supportive of its activities for the rest of his life.
Rousing family friendly symphonic music guaranteed to excite young and old by Beethoven, Saint-Saëns and Bizet will be played by an orchestra of over 100 SICMF participants. The conductor leading this performance is none other than the Grammy Award winning Michael Repper. Repper is currently the Music Director of the Ashland Symphony Orchestra, Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, and the Northern Neck Orchestra of Virginia in the USA. His album with the New York Youth Symphony, featuring debut recordings of works by Florence Price and Jessie Montgomery amongst others, achieved widespread critical acclaim, reached #1 on the Billboard Chart, and won a Grammy® Award.
The soloist for this concert is the internationally acclaimed cellist, Maja Bogdanović, who will be playing Sant-Saëns’ first cello concerto. She has performed with the Tonhalle Orchester Zurich, Tokyo Philharmonic and the Berlin Symphony, and her recently released CD of the Saint-Saëns cello concerto has been praised world-wide for its flair, excitement and beauty of tone.
Residents of Kayamandi and the surrounding Stellenbosch Winelands are encouraged to attend this rare treat. No booking is necessary, and the doors at the Kayamandi High School will be open for the public from 11:30am on Sunday 13 July.
