Playing for people with mental and physical challenges in the Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now projects in Austria and Germany was a life-changing experience for Petrus Coetzee, the soloist in Bartók Viola Concerto with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra at the City Hall on Thursday, 16 April 2026. Seeing how music could draw out emotions from the audiences made Petrus really understand the power of music to do good, says PETA STEWART:
Petrus Coetzee grew up with music in his Wellington home – his mother sang, his aunt sang and also composed some Afrikaans songs which the family sang, and his grandmother played the organ, so trips to see her in the then Port Elizabeth were also enhanced by visits to her in the organ loft of the church in which she played the organ.
His mother had played the violin as a child and so introducing her four children to music was natural.
From violin to viola – happily!
“I started violin lessons in what is now Grade 2, privately in Paarl. My first orchestral experience was when I joined the FPMC’s youth orchestra from Grade 8 to Matric, ” he says, “because it wasn’t offered at my school in Wellington where I could only learn recorder. “
Petrus was soon learning the piano and knew early on that he would be a musician. It wasn’t until he was doing his B.Mus degree in piano and violin at the University of Stellenbosch that he was really introduced to the viola.
“It was a very quick transition for me because it felt natural from the start. I was almost immediately asked to play at a wedding and I amazed all my friends at what I could play in such a short time,” he says. “Viola players are in short supply and more more opportunities tend to arise. I played both violin and viola, but when I went to Austria for a Master’s diploma at the Vorarlberger Landeskonservatorium, I opted for the viola.”
Petrus later moved to Germany to complete a second Master’s degree in Viola and in String Quartet at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media. While in Europe from 2011-2018 he also completed a two-year orchestral internship with the NDR Radiophilharmonie in Hanover and became a founding member of Ensemble Reflektor, a young, innovative group based in Hamburg. He also worked with several orchestras in Germany such as the Oldenburgisches Staatsorchester where he was a tutti violist.
Education and working with young people
It was while there that he deepened his interest which started in the Western Cape in working with young people, and after joining the CPO Board at the beginning of 2026 he also joined the education sub-committee.
“I have been involved with education since I started teaching and now teach at both the University of Stellenbosch and Cape Town. I wrote my Master’s thesis on the history of the Frank Pietersen Centre and its contribution to the community so it has always been a big part of me. The CPO’s youth education is important because it makes a big difference in the lives of so many young people.”
Petrus was also involved in the Jamestown project in Stellenbosch which is where he again saw how music can help develop life skills and how it is a bridge between communities, cultures and countries. He also did community outreach with his string quartet in Germany.
“It is so clear how music can make a difference, how it can create a structure into which young people can flourish.”
Challenging and technical
Since 2018, Petrus Coetzee has been principal viola of the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra and has performed twice as soloist with the orchestra. For this concert, he has chosen to play the Bartók.
“There are not too many concertos for the viola,” he says, “so it was really a choice of Bartók or Walton, both Romantic works. I have taught the Walton which has been performed several times in Cape Town, and have only played the first movement of the Bartók which hasn’t been performed here in many years, never by the CPO. This is a great opportunity for me and I love the work. It’s more challenging, more technical than the Walton, much more exciting in my view, and it has lots of drama, energy and rhythm especially in the first movement. The second movement is more serene and then the last movement is fast and fantastic. I am very excited about performing this. I know the audience will like the energy and the colours, especially the impressionism of the second movement.”
So with his orchestral and teaching responsibilities and his chamber recitals whenever he can fit them in, there’s little enough time for him to indulge in his love of gardening which he finds restorative and stimulating.
Concert details
The concert on 16 April begins with a performance by the Cape Town Philharmonic Youth Wind Ensemble, conducted by Charlene Verster. This appearance is supported by the City of Cape Town which is also supporting the appearance of the AfriArts Chorus in Mendelssohn’s Symphony-cantata “Lobgesang”. British conductor Nicholas Chalmers will be on the podium with soloists Nobulumko Mngxekeza and iphamandla Moyake (sopranos) and Thando Mjandana (tenor) and the choristers of VOX Cape Town as well.
The dress rehearsal for the CPO concert is on 15 April at the City Hall at 7.30pm. The pre-concert talk on the night of the concert is at 6.45pm and open to concertgoers.
What: Violist Petrus Coetzee with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra
Where and when: 16 April 2026 at the Cape Town City Hall
Tickets: 16 April: Artscape Dial-A-Seat 021 421 7695 or Webtickets
Tickets: 15 April dress rehearsal: Quicket
WS
