Peta Stewart
Jeffrey Armstrong is really looking forward to his performance with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra – he opens the Winter Symphonies at the City Hall season on Thursday, 1 June, 2023, with his interpretation of Matthijs van Dijk’s Violin Concerto.
The work, he says, “is going to be a lot of fun to perform, a blend of genres like classical, rock and jazz, and colourful instrumentation which has become Matthijs’s signature style. It’s been hiding in plain sight for a number of years and I am thrilled that the CPO is giving us the chance to present the premiere.”
It also makes him happy to work with Brandon Phillips, for so many years the conductor of the Cape Town Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (CPYO) and now the CPO’s resident conductor and head of woodwinds and ensembles at UCT. Phillips will conduct the CPO in Tchaikovsky’s Capriccio Italien and Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony.
Jeffrey, who won the UNISA National Competition in 2021, credits the CPYO with consolidating his interest in music, to which he was always drawn by the support of his mother who had studied flute and piano. He knew from the age of 12 that music was what he would end up doing someday.
First major concert with the CPO
“My first taste of the glitz and glam of the music scene came through involvement with the Cape Town Philharmonic Youth Orchestra: I was hooked!”
It’s his first major concert with the CPO.
“I played with the orchestra during youth concerto festivals, but never for a symphony season concert, so I am very excited. I am looking forward to the rehearsal process. There’s no piano score to help with preparation and of course no recording to listen to for reference. The orchestral will have had one rehearsal before I join in. It’s an incredibly virtuosic piece that requires complete commitment from all of the musicians — the only way to make this score speak is to really throw oneself at it!”
“I’ve been lucky enough to commission rather a lot from Matthijs recently. Not only in my capacity as a violinist, but also as a board member for the Cape Chamber Music Collective. Later on this year I’ll perform another new commission that he’s been working on. I think it’s important to commission new music from local composers; and even more important to keep going back for more!”
Royal Birmingham Conservatoire
Winning the UNISA competition brought him a “fair amount of recognition locally, and it was a healthy exercise. I must admit to my relationship with competitions being less than amicable; I take comfort in the fact that I still feel very much the same musician now as I felt prior to winning!”
Jeffrey remained on in Hanover after he completed his studies in Germany. He is completing his soloist’s diploma with Elisabeth Kufferath at the Hochschule for Music, Theatre and Media following four years at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, where he won most of the prizes available.
Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen
“I moved there to study three years ago, and haven’t left! It’s perfectly central to allow for my work with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, my studies in the Solo class in Hannover, and the odd trip around Europe for other musical engagements. “
Of course, he misses South Africa and confesses that he visits home more regularly than he should and this makes his busy schedule a challenge.
“I’m lucky enough to have a generous selection of orchestral, chamber, and solo playing in my schedule. One major part of my time over the past two years has been the founding and managing of the Cape Chamber Music Collective. Our small board of musicians has managed to present 80 concerts in that time, along with school workshops, masterclasses, and recordings.”
He will just have completed a tour with the Kammerphilharmonie Bremen with conductor Paavo Järvi, and the day after the symphony concert in Cape Town he will be part of piano quartet recital for the Cape Chamber Music Collective with the CPO’s principal viola Petrus Coetzee, cellist Graham du Plessis and pianist Francois du Toit – 2 June is at 6 Spin Street, with other recitals at Erin Hall, Somerset West and Kalk Bay until 8 June.
Then he heads back to Germany to rehearsals for a chamber music project with the Kammerphilharmonie, followed by several performances of Brahms Double Concerto with his long-term chamber music partner Daniel Brandon in Italy and the UK. He will also be performing the Bartok Violin Concerto no 1 with Ensemble Geräuschkulisse in Germany next Season.
Jeffrey recently released on the Naxos label three unpublished duos by York Bowen for violin and viola with Yue Yu.
Subscriptions are available at Artscape Dial-A-Seat -21 421 7695 which attract a 10 per cent discount and the right to keep those seats for as long as you subscribe.
Who: Violinist Jeffrey Armstrong, Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, Brandon Phillips on the podium
What: CPO Winter Symphonies
Where: Cape Town City Hall
When: 1 June, 7.30pm; pre-concert talk at 6.45pm. Open dress rehearsal 11am
CPO Tickets: Artscape Dial-a-Seat 021 421 7695, Computicket, dress rehearsal Quicket
WS
