PETA STEWART
Daniel Boico, in Cape Town now to conduct three concerts with the Cape Town Philharmonic in November 2018, has many reasons to be excited. First of all, he is always happy to be back with the CPO, an orchestra for which he has nothing but the highest praise.
Then, in two of the three concerts he is conducting works by Poulenc and in the middle concert he is presenting a gorgeous Tchaikovsky Suite to the Cape Town public for the first time in many years, and finally of course he looks forward to collaborating with all the soloists – pianist François du Toit, violinist Yevgeny Kutik and then SIX amateur pianists performing in the final concert of Les Amateur Virtuoses, a festival taking place in Cape Town and Stellenbosch in November.
About the Poulenc Sinfonietta and Tchaikovsky Suite no 3, Daniel Boico is particularly happy, “These are some of the most beautiful works ever written, with incredible lyricism and show-off of orchestral colour and strength. Both are overlooked too often only because of either their unusual name or duration or instrumentation, which doesn’t conform to the ‘normal’ symphony, even though both of these pieces have four contrastic movements just like a symphony!”
Poulenc Concerto for Two Pianos
Then there is the Poulenc Concerto for Two Pianos in the Les Amateurs Virtuoses concert, to which Boico is really looking forward.
“People can become incredible musicians without being professional. You cannot be an amateur doctor or an amateur architect but with talent and commitment an amateur musician can attain a really high level, sometimes higher than some professionals. They don’t do it to pay the bills so these are people who choose to perform and often that adds a special level of excitement to the performance. It’s not routine, it is something they have set their hearts on and have practised really hard for. This energy and enthusiasm is then transferred to the musicians, to the conductor and to the audience. They have reached a pinnacle of performance and are happy to share this with us.”
In the last couple of years, Boico has made debuts with several more international orchestras, the Taiwan National Symphony, Budapest Symphony and Columbus Symphony amongst them. He has also managed to spend some time between engagements to teach at the University of Indiana at Bloomington, at DePaul University in Chicago and privately in Stellenbosch.
His daughter, Naomi, is on full scholarship at New York University’s prestigious Tisch School of the Arts where she is studying theatre. She is also completing a double major in political science and will graduate in May.
“She has opened my horizons,” he says. “Just when I think they are open enough, she inspires me and they expand still further. Naomi is very versatile. She is a singer/songwriter who accompanies herself on guitar and piano. She has won several awards, and also writes plays and movie scripts, models, and appears in commercials. I don’t know how she does it all.”
Boico is associate conductor of the KNZPO and conducts there several times every year. He was born in Israel to Russian parents, raised in Paris, studied in America and Russia and now lives in Stellenbosch. He was a finalist and prizewinner at the Prokofiev, Pedrotti, and Cadaques International Conducting Competitions and has been music director of orchestras in America. He has conducted some of the best orchestras around the world, has recorded for Chandos and Bayerischer Rundfunk, worked in music administration, planning and programming at the New York Philharmonic, was their Assistant Conductor from 2009-2011, and was Daniel Barenboim’s assistant at the Chicago Symphony and with the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra.
Pre-concert talks
For the Summer Symphony season concerts on 1 and 8 November, there will be pre-concert talks by Rodney Trudgeon open to ticket holders at 7.15pm and dress rehearsals at 11am at the City Hall on the day will be open.
Soloists in Boico’s Summer Symphony season concerts are François du Toit (Chopin Piano Concerto no 2 on November 1 and Yevgeny Kutik (Brahms Violin Concerto ) on November 8. The pianists Julien Kurtz, June Wu, Xavier Ayomond, Thierry Goldwaser, Bernard Linde (from Stellenbosch, and Thomas Yu will perform in Les Amateurs Virtuoses on November 18.
Subscriptions for the concerts in the Spring Symphony season attracting 20% discounts (30% for members of Friends of Orchestal Music are also available. Iinformation: www.cpo.org.za and luvuyo@cpo.org.za, 021 410 9809.
Who: Daniel Boico conductor
What: CPO Spring Symphony Season and Les Amateurs Virtuoses festival finale
Where: Cape Town City Hall, 1, 8, 18 November, 8pm, and 6pm 18 November 2018
Info, book: http://bit.ly/DuToitsChopin, http://bit.ly/KutiksBrahms, http://bit.ly/LesAmVirt, Artscape Dial-a-Seat 021 421 7695
WS
