Years
2019 2018
Stefan Velkov Guitar Recital
2018-04-19

19 April 2018

Odeion

19:30

Bulgarian-born Stefan Velkov was introduced to music since earliest childhood. His official training in music theory, piano and guitar started at the age of seven.

Stefan received his first music degree as a guitar and light music performer from the Bulgarian State Conservatoire (later renamed to Bulgarian Academy of Music). At this stage (the late seventies of the 20th century) the guitar in Bulgaria was still regarded mostly as a light-music instrument. That is why it was included as a study subject only within the Light Music Department of the Conservatoire. The interest and the knowledge of the classical guitar was still at its infancy, but its popularity was growing fast. This made it necessary for the Bulgarian Ministry of Culture to make a historic decision: for the first time in Bulgarian music history, a decision was made to send a young Bulgarian guitarist to Germany to receive a proper music degree in classical guitar and to return to Bulgaria and introduce classical guitar as a subject at the Bulgarian Academy of Music.

After competing with all the most talented guitarists of the country, Stefan won the competition which enabled him to receive a master's degree in classical guitar from the Berliner Hochschule fur Musik Hanns Eisler. He completed his studies in guitar, piano and composition with a special reward of the Hochshule as one of the five best students. During his studies he also won the competition for the best guitar composition.

During his studies abroad (1981 - 1988) Stefan met and had masterclasses with most of the best guitar professors and guitar maestros of our time: Maria-Livia Sao Marcos (Switzerland/ Brazil), Costas Cotsiolis (Greece), Dieter Kreidler (Germany) and Leo Brouwer (Cuba).

In 1986 he was appointed as the first classical guitar lecturer at the Bulgarian Academy of Music and chairperson of the guitar festivals and competitions. This was the time when his own active concert career began. Stefan's repertoire includes most of the great masterpieces ever written for this instrument, but he became more and more known for his own compositions for guitar which, according to critics, outshine the best known masterpieces created for classical guitar.

Stefan’s arrival in SA (1991), coincided with the search of the Free State Musicon for a qualified guitar lecturer in order to introduce the subject classical guitar as part of its music training programme. He was offered the position of senior guitar lecturer at the Musicon which he holds until present day. During this time he also taught at the University of the Free State (1992 - 1999).

Stefan has given concerts in Bulgaria, Poland, Germany, Czech Republic, England and South Africa.

PROGRAMME

  • Velkov: Summer Dream
    From the golden heritage of the classical guitar:
    • Villa-Lobos: Prelude
  • Two Magnificent Arpeggios
    • Giuliani
    • Brower
  • Two Romantic Pieces:
    • Velkov: Serenade
    • Velkov: Adagio (The Magic Of Love)
  • Velkov: Bulgarian Suite for Guitar
    • I Bulgarian folk dance
    • II Bulgarian folk-singing
    • III Bulgarian folk dance in 7/8
    • IV Bulgarian folk-song
    • V Bulgarian folk dance in 9/8
  • Velkov: Tango
  • Velkov: Two Modern Dances
  • Velkov: The Wild Horse

ADMISSION

  • R120 (adults)
  • *R80 (pensioners)
  • *R70 (UFS staff)
  • *R50 (students, learners and block bookings of 10+)

Tickets available at Computicket or online at http://online.computicket.com/web/

*Please note that tickets for pensioners, students, learners and UFS staff can only be purchased at a Computicket outlet (Shoprite Checkers) or at the doors since a valid card or ID has to be presented to qualify for the above mentioned discount.

ENQUIRIES
Ninette Pretorius (tel. 051 401 2504)


Back
Trio du Cap Classique

with

Liesl Stoltz (flute), Anmari vd Westhuizen (cello) & François du Toit (piano)

1 August 2019

Odeion

19:30

Liesl Stoltz started studying the flute with Éva Tamássy and furthered her studies in France with Shigenori Kudo, Pierre-Yves Artaud and Chantal Debushy at the École Normale de Musique de Paris: Alfred Cortot. She later trained in Italy with maestro Peter-Lukas Graf at the Accademia Internazionale Superiore di Musica: Lorenzo Perosi. Her album Explorations – South African Flute Music won the category “creative output” in the annual Humanities and Social Sciences awards (2017). Other awards include first prize in the 12th Friedrich Kuhlau International Flute Competition (Germany), 3rd place in the 2007 International Flute Competition (Timisoara, Romania) and finalist in the 2005 Leonardo de Lorenzo International Flute Competition (Italy), to name a few. Liesl has performed in both South Africa and Europe. She lectures at UCT and plays a Yamaha 900 series 14k flute. She is a Yamaha South Africa Artist since May 2018.

Anmari van der Westhuizen graduated from the University of Stellenbosch (BMusHons), from the Mozarteum, Salzburg (Grosses Diplom), and from the Hochschule für Musik (Cologne) with Maria Kliegel (Konzertexamen). In 2013 Anmari received her PhD from the University of Pretoria. She has won prestigious competitions including the ATKV Forte Competition, the SABC Competition and the Oude Meester Competition. She performed in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Faroe Islands, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Poland, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, USA, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

François du Toit is an Associate Professor of Piano and Head of Practical Studies at the UCT. He completed an BMusHons at UCT under Laura Searle. Also holding diplomas up to Fellowship level from the Trinity College of Music London, he studied for the Solistendiplom at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater (Hannover, Germany). Francois took top prizes in the 1991 Hannover Music Competition, the 1992 Rotterdam and 1993 Marsala Internationals, and the 1994 International Maria Callas Competition (Athens). François has over 40 concertos in his repertoire. He is constantly in demand as accompanist for visiting artists. In July 2006 he released a solo CD comprising works of Bach-Busoni, Haydn, Mendelssohn and Chopin. In 2010 TwoPianists record label released his recording of the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 and the Rachmaninoff Paganini Variations. He has given recitals and masterclasses in America, Asia and Europe and undertook concert tours to Paris, Vienna and Cardiff.

PROGRAMME

  • Hummel: Trio Op. 78 in A major
  • Villa Lobos: Assobio a Jato
  • Gaubert: Three Watercolours
  • Menselssohn: Trio in D minor, Op. 49

ADMISSION

  • R130 (adults)
  • *R70 (pensioners)
  • *R70 (UFS staff)
  • *R50 (students, learners and block bookings of 10+)

Tickets available at Computicket or online at http://online.computicket.com/web/

*Please note that tickets for pensioners, students, learners and UFS staff can only be purchased at a Computicket outlet (Shoprite Checkers) or at the doors since a valid card or ID has to be presented to qualify for the above mentioned discount.

ENQUIRIES
Ninette Pretorius (tel. 051 401 2504)

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