Years
2019 2018
Months
February March April May June July August September October November December
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
Leslie Howard piano recital

Thursday, 8 August 2013
Odeion
19:30

(pay only R140 for a season ticket of two concerts: 
Leslie Howard performing with the Odeion String Quartet on 7 August and Leslie Howard piano recital on 8 August)

Annual re-engagements on five continents and a 130-CD discography attest to the burgeoning popularity of Leslie Howard.  Leslie is renowned world wide as a concert pianist, composer, conductor, chamber musician and scholar.  He is citizen of both Britain and Australia – he was born in Melbourne, but has been resident in London since 1972.  Leslie has earned an extraordinary claim to immortality, having accomplished a feat unequalled by any solo artist in recording history – his 97-CD survey (for Hyperion) of the complete piano music of Franz Liszt.  It encompasses 300+ world premières, including works prepared by Howard from Liszt’s still unpublished manuscripts, and works unheard since Liszt’s lifetime.  This monumental project merited his entry into the Guinness Book of World Records, six Grands Priz du Disque, the Medal of St. Stephen, the Pro Cultura Hungarica award and a mounted bronze cast of Liszt’s hand.  At an ceremony at Buckingham Palace, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II bestowed on Leslie “Member of the Order of Australia” for his service to the arts as piano soloist, composer, musicologist and mentor of young musicians. 

Howard’s performances of chamber music and lieder include collaboration with some of the greatest artists of our time, including the Amadeus, Britten and Endellion String Quartets as well as Salvatore Accardo, Augustin Dumay, Erick Friedman, Ani Kavafian, Benny Goodman, Charles Neidich, Steven Isserlis, Nathaniel Rosen, Torlief Thedeen, Geoffrey Parsons, Sir Thomas Allen, Yvonne Kenny and Dame Felicity Lott. He has been a featured artist at many international music festivals, including the American festivals of Santa Fe, Newport, La Jolla, Palm Beach and Seattle, and at such European festivals as Brescia-Bergamo, Como, Edinburgh, Schleswig-Holstein, Bath, Camden, Cheltenham, Warwick and Wexford.

His discography includes many world première recordings, such as the four Piano Sonatas of Anton Rubenstein, the second and third Piano Sonatas of Tchaikovsky, a 2-disc survey of Glazunov’s piano music, and a 3-disc collection of Percy Grainger’s piano works. 

Program:

Beethoven:      
Sonata No. 13 in E-flat major, Op. 27 No. 1
Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27  No. 2 “Moonlight”

Schubert:
Fantasy in C major, D760 “Wanderer”

Liszt:
Sonata, S178

Admission:
R100 (adults), R80 (pensioners), R50 (students and learners), R50 (group booking of 10+)

Tickets available at Computicket.

Enquiries:      
Ninette Pretorius (tel. 051 401 2504)

Economic and Management Sciences

Education

Health Sciences

The Humanities

Law

Natural and Agricultural Sciences

Theology and Religion

Open Distance Learning

Business School

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful, to better understand how they are used and to tailor advertising. You can read more and make your cookie choices here. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept