PETA STEWART
Close on the heels of the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra’s successful Debut Gala comes the Cape Town Philharmonic Youth Orchestra’s Rotary Gala, also showcasing community talent and giving performance opportunities to three rising stars. The concert takes place under the direction of Brandon Phillips on Sunday, May 20 at 4.30pm at the Artscape Theatre. Talent aside, the three soloists all have one thing in common – that’s excitement about performing with the CPYO.
Says pianist Sulayman Human, 24, who will perform the first movement of the Chopin Piano Concerto: “I have a deep connection with the music of Chopin and I look forward to sharing the music with the audience again, working with a great conductor like Brandon Phillips.” For Myles Roberts, 26, who will play Bizet’s Carmen Fantasy, arranged for flute, it is “a huge honour. This orchestra has reached great heights and I know it will be a rewarding experience.
Elgar Cello Concerto
Chris Njapha, 20, who will perform the first movement of the Elgar Cello Concerto, a member of the CPYO, is “super-excited about playing with my friends.” The orchestra will also play Allan Stephenson’s Cape Town Overture and the Festive Overture by Shostakovich.
Says the CPO’s Louis Heyneman, “Youth supporting youth is the cornerstone of our every-growing youth development and education project which transforms the lives of so many young people, harnessing talent and providing a sense of achievement amongst youngsters.” One of the recipients is the new Masidlale project at Prestwich School in Green Point, a project which teaches strings or woodwinds at grassroots level.
The other recipients are the financially strapped members of the Interact Club at Trafalgar High, who will be able to attend an environmental camp at Soetwater. One of the concert’s sponsors is the V&A Waterfront’s My Community Project.
Says Johann Gerber of Rotary: “Rotary is passionate about our young people and seeks to encourage their participation in all walks of life thereby developing future leaders in their respective fields.”
In the less than four years since he picked up the cello for the first time, Chris Njapha proved what a musician he is by joining the cello section of the KZNPO and the student orchestra at the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival, and now he plays in both the Stellenbosch University Symphony Orchestra and the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra.
Top master classes
Sulayman is a veteran, having played a few times with the CPO and in concerto festivals nationally. He was the winner of the inaugural Lionel Bowman Beethoven Competition in Stellenbosch as a high school pupil. He has also won prizes in the inaugural Hennie Joubert National Piano Competition, the Artscape National Piano Competition and the Atterbury National Piano Competition. Pianists such as Anton Nel, Antonio Pompa-Baldi, Aviram Reichert and Leslie Howard have given him master classes.
Myles Roberts, after just one year of lessons at the Hugo Lambrechts Music Centre, performed as soloist at both the Hugo Lambrechts and Artscape Youth Concerto Festivals. He also performed as a soloist in Mauritius and has worked with conductors such as Victor Yampolsky, Theodore Kuchar, Arjan Tien, Martin Wettges and Conrad Van Alphen. Myles received master classes from Sir James Galway and was named the most outstanding flutist at the Galway Flute Festival in Switzerland 2015.
Who: Conductor: Brandon Phillips and Cape Town Philharmonic Youth Orchestra
What: CPYO/Rotary fundraiser
Where: Artscape Theatre, Foreshore, Cape Town
When: 20 May at 4.30pm
Info: www.cpo.org.za/, marvin@cpo.org.za, 021 410 9809
Book tickets: www.cpo.org.za/, Artscape Dial-a-Seat 021 421 7695, R150, R75 pensioners, http://bit.ly/CPYOgalaRotary, Computicket
WS
