13th International Conservatory Festival

After  a  successful  audition  the  OSMC  received an  invitation  to  participate  in  the  13th International Conservatory Festival which  will  take place in St Petersburg Russia from the 1st to the 9th of November 2013. The festival is a yearly highlight on the concert calendar of the prestigious Rimsky Korsakov Conservatoire.  It is the first time in history that an orchestra from Africa is invited to partake in this festival.            

The artistic panel of the festival under the auspices of Prof Lydia Volchek annually selects ten  conservatories  internationally  (in  the  likes of the Tchaikovsky Conservatoire (Moscow), Conservatoire de Paris, Eastman School of Music NY and the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki Finland  to  name  but  a  few)  to  gather  in  St  Petersburg  for  the  festival.  The rector of the Rimsky Korsakov Conservatoire, Prof Mikhail Gantvarg stated that it will be the first school of music hailing from Africa to participate in the festival ever.  The OSMC was requested to give two recitals of 40 minutes each during the festival. Maestro Jan Moritz Onken will lead the ensemble to St Petersburg; OSMC members will have the opportunity to attend all concerts presented by fellow participants and master classes presented by the masters of St Petersburg Conservatoire.

The festival is usually opened and closed with a grand concert presented by the St. Petersburg Conservatoire Symphony Orchestra (70 plus members). Last year the opening concert was conducted by the celebrated master, Valery Gergiev (artistic director of the Mariinsky Opera and Symphony Orchestra) while the closing ceremony was conducted by Semyon Bychkov. Both Gergiev and Bychkov are alumni of the St Petersburg Conservatoire.

The OSMC will recite a programme of mainly South African composers, with two new works commissioned by the OSM New Music Initiative from the prolific South African composer, Hendrik Hofmeyr, entitled Notturno Elegiaco and Phantom Waltz.  Phantom Waltz is a challenging work where musicians simultaneously play, sing and speak. A reworked edition for chamber orchestra of the original string quartet for piano and soprano, Lieder op Boesmanverse, by revered South African composer, Stefans Grové will also be performed. To commemorate the centenary of composer Benjamin Britten this year, Cantus in Memoriam of Benjamin Britten by Arvo Pärt is also included in the programme.