The SU Department of Music has announced the start of the second season of the Endler Concert Series, which will run from 2 August to 7 December, 2024, following on the great success of this year’s first season. The season starts with feature shows by the Juliet String Quartet and the Stellenbosch University Choir.
Buy Endler Concert Series tickets at Webtickets.
Here’s the complete Endler Concerts calendar:
2 August – Juliet String Quartet: Something Old Something New
With Annien Shaw, Matthew Stead (violin), Remi Ludick (viola), Babette Roosenschoon (cello). Inspired by a common love and enthusiasm for chamber music of the highest level, four Cape Town-based instrumentalists have brought together their shared experience to form the Juliet String Quartet.
3 August – SU Choir conducted by André van der Merwe
The SU Choir is one of South Africa’s most accoladed cultural treasures. Audiences can expect a programme full of new choral works and arrangements, with new a capella versions of, among others, Johnny Clegg’s The Crossing and André Swiegers’ Blou, along with arrangements of Alberto Grau’s Kasar mie la gaji (The earth is tired) and Balleilakka – an adaptation of the popular song from the Indian blockbuster The Boss.
4 August – US Chamber Choir conducted by Lunathi Ncamani and Martin Berger
The Stellenbosch University Chamber Choir was founded in 2014 by Dr Martin Berger, and this year marks the choir’s 10th anniversary. The SUCC will be performing a variety of works by composers old and new, as well as local and from abroad, including Os Justi (Anton Bruckner), Loof die Here (Pieter van der Westhuizen), Gebed aan die Nuwe Maan (Hendrik Hofmeyr), ‘n Paternoster vir Suid-Afrika (Antoni Schonken), as well as Song and Arirang (Kim Shin). A vibrant selection of traditional African choral arrangements will also be performed, under the direction of Lunathi Ncamani.
6 August – Symphonic Bridges: An International Youth Orchestra Performance
Embark on an incomparable musical journey with conductor Alexander Walker, leading the talents from the Stellenbosch Youth Orchestra and West Coast Youth Orchestra, as well as visiting young musicians from England, the USA and Australia. They unite to weave a cultural tapestry of symphonic masterpieces, blending African rhythms with classical sounds. The programme highlights the premiere of The Future is in Africa by SA composer, Malcolm Dedman, commissioned for this International Youth Bridges Orchestra tour.
16 August – US / UCT Piano Exchange: Clazz
Following the last 22 years’ successes, the Stellenbosch University Piano Division once again joins forces with the Piano Division of the University of Cape Town’s South African College of Music for their annual Piano Exchange concert. The 2024 programme features works that blend jazz and classical styles in a fusion termed by composer Surendran Reddy, as his unique composition style – ‘clazz’. Audiences can expect a fusion of classical and jazz, but also mbaqanga, mbira and further popular music.
17 August – iiNceba zoMdali: Angilelanga
With Ncebakazi Mnukwana (lead vocals, uhadi, umrhubhe, hand percussion), Lungiswa Plaatjies (vocals, uhadi, dodo harp, hand percussion), Mkhokheli Kim Masala (marimba, cajón, vocals), Bongani Nikelo (electric bass, vocals)
After an appearance at Constellations at Spier in 2022, the director Brett Bailey of Third World Bunfight invited Ncebakazi Mnukwana to perform at the Spier Harvest Festival 2023 with an ensemble. Mnukwana approached musician Lungiswa Plaatjies of Langa, Cape Town, to create the ensemble iiNceba zoMdali. Kim Masala, a marimba player and percussionist, and Bongani Nikelo, an Afro-Jazz electric bass player joined the ensemble, with Mnukwana putting together the traditional and indigenous music repertoire.
23 August – Paranoid Android: Pierrot Lunaire and other psychedelic trips
With Magdalene Minnaar (voice | sang), José Dias (piano | klavier), Petrus Coetzee (violin, viola | viool, altviool), Peter Martens (cello | tjello), Gabriele von Dürckheim (flute | fluit, piccolo), Féroll-Jon Davids (clarinet, bass klarinet | klarinet, basklarinet)
Journey with Pierrot’s Twilight Ensemble into a world of fresh perspectives that bridge the gap between classical and contemporary genres, promising a psychedelic auditory adventure. The programme includes Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire, the iconic chamber-setting of Albert Giraud’s 21 poems about Pierrot – the moonstruck clown lost in a surreal landscape of love, madness, and longing. Other works include Guillaume Connesson’s fusion of classic tradition with techno music in Techno Parade. Stretching the boundaries of classical music, this programme promises electrifying musical experiences through the prism of virtuosic chamber music.
30 August – US Voice Division: Opera Gala
The Stellenbosch University Voice Division will again present their popular annual “Opera Gala”. The programme will include arias and ensembles from operas such as Carmen by Bizet, Le Nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni by Mozart, as well as La Bohème by Puccini. The audience will also be treated to great operatic choruses from operas like Verdi’s Nabucco, Leoncavallo’s I Pagliacci and Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, showcasing the outstanding voices of the division’s young singers.
31 August – #Action4Inclusion Palissander Concert
Join them for a special concert by The Palissander Choir in support of #Action4Inclusion. The crowdfunding initiative is a key component of the University’s Bridge the Gap annual fund, and a top priority for SU.
What: Endler Concert Series 2024
When: 2 August to 7 December 2024
Where: US Konservatorium Stellenbosch, Cape
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