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Symphony Concert
2018-09-22

FSSO’s 4th Symphony Concert presented in collaboration with the OSM:

International guest pianist and FSSO virtuosi promise an evening of musical poetics

Conductor: Alexander Fokkens
Soloists: Vitaly Pisarenko (piano),
Odeion String Quartet,
Paul van Zuilenburg (trumpet),
Kobus Malan (oboe),
Danrè Strydom (clarinet),
Brahm Henkins (bassoon) and
Shannon Armer (French horn)
Date: Saturday, 22 September 2018
Time: 19:30
Venue: Odeion, UFS

On Saturday 22 September 2018, the Free State Symphony Orchestra’s (FSSO’s) fourth symphony concert of the year brings to the stage international piano virtuoso, Vitaly Pisarenko, and places a spotlight on the local talent of the Odeion String Quartet as well as a number of the FSSO’s principal players.

Regarded as one of the finest young musicians of his generation, Pisarenko has been dubbed as a ‘poet at the piano’ and is performing as guest piano soloist with the FSSO as part of the South African leg of his current world tour. After performing in a series of recitals and concerts with local orchestras, he moves on to the UK, Belgium, Hong Kong and Argentina. The concert in Bloemfontein will be his second last performance in South Africa.

Described by the New York Times as an “immensely gifted pianist… with prodigious technique, myriad shadings and scrupulous accuracy”, the Russian-born pianist already had his first public recital at the age of six. After winning the 8th International Franz Liszt Piano Competition in 2008, he took his place in the musical world as a pianist “of unusually soft touch and captivating expressiveness”, rapidly gaining worldwide recognition. His style has prompted more than one critic to compare his playing to that of “a young Franz Liszt”.

This evocative pianist will perform Shostakovich’s Concerto for Piano, Trumpet and Strings, Opus 31 with the FSSO’s Paul van Zuilenburg as the trumpet soloist. Shostakovich originally composed the concerto as an experimentation with a neo-baroque combination of instruments. Despite the title, the work might more accurately be classified as a double concerto rather than a piano concerto in which the trumpet and piano command equal prominence. The trumpet parts frequently take the form of sardonic interjections, leavening the humour and wit of the piano passage work.

The Odeion String Quartet with Samson Diamond (violin), Sharon de Kock (violin), Jeanne-Louise Moolman (viola) and Anmari van der Westhuizen (cello) are the soloists in Elgar’s masterpiece, Introduction and Allegro for String Quartet and Strings. Scored for a string quartet and string orchestra, Elgar originally composed it to show off the players’ virtuosity. The score soon came to be recognised as a masterpiece and is likened to a multi-layered symphonic poem for string orchestra.

The programme concludes with Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante for Four Winds in E-flat major which is scored for solo oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon. The soloists for the Sinfonia Concertante will be four principal players of the FSSO: Kobus Malan (oboe), Danré Strydom (clarinet), Brahm Henkins (bassoon) and Shannon Armer (French horn).

When asked how he felt about joining the FSSO for this concert, Pisarenko responded by saying that this performance would represent a number of firsts for him: “Although this is my third visit to South Africa, it will be the first time that I perform in Bloemfontein. I’ve also always loved Shostakovich’s piano concerto and have wanted to play it for a long time. It is such a beautiful and expressive concerto, and I’ll be playing this fantastic piece for the very first time with the FSSO.”

Alexander Fokkens, CEO and Creative Director of the FSSO, concludes: “It’s very exciting to be able to showcase our immensely talented local orchestral musicians alongside a musician of Vitaly’s calibre. The programme for the evening will not only show off individual talent, but create an orchestral experience that will feel musically varied and poetically moving.”

Fokkens will also be conducting the concert on the evening. The FSSO’s fourth symphony concert for this year is presented in collaboration with the Odeion School of Music.


Admission:

Ticket prices are as follows:
Adults - R150; Pensioners and block bookings of 10 and more - R100; Children 3 to 18 years - R50.

Tickets are available at any Computicket outlet or online at online.computicket.com. For enquiries, contact Ella Kotze at the FSSO on 051 401 2342, Ninette Pretorius of the OSM on 051 401 2504, or visit the FSSO’s Facebook page (@ Free State Symphony Orchestra) for more information and regular updates.

For media enquiries and visuals, contact Daphney Teffo on 082 506 3551 or e-mail rdteffo@gmail.com


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FSSO Symphony Concert - Free State Symphony Orchestra

Gérard Korsten

Denise Sutton

Jeanne-Louise Moolman

Free State Symphony Orchestra
Thursday 26 May 2011
Odeion
19:30

Programme:
Anton EBERL : Symphony in C
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART : Sinfonia Concertante
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN : Symphony No. 1

Gérard Korsten is regarded by many as the best conductor this country has ever produced. He took up his appointment as Music Director of the London Mozart Players in 2010. Over the next three years Gérard will be fully involved in the orchestra’s musical development. He will conduct all of its major UK concerts and will work with the orchestra to develop foreign touring as well as new project opportunities. Gérard is also Principal Conductor of the Symphonieorchester Vorarlberg Bregenz.

Gérard Korsten’s recent engagements have included Le nozze di Figaro (La Scala, Milan) Ariadne auf Naxos & Hans Werner Henze’s L’Upupa und der Triumph der Sohnesliebe (Lyon) Don Giovanni (Royal Opera, Stockholm) Cosi fan tutte (Teatro del Maggio Musicale, Florence & San Carlo, Naples) and concerts with the Budapest Festival Orchestra, Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Flanders and Netherlands Radio Kamer Filharmonie.

Gérard Korsten conducts regularly in the Vienna Konzerthaus, Grosses Festspielhaus Salzburg, and Amsterdam Concertgebouw. He made his Salzburg Festival debut in 1995 with Camerata Salzburg, and his Berlin Festival debut in 1998 with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen. Forthcoming engagements include Cosi fan tutte and Albert Herring (Glyndebourne), La Veuve joyeuse & Siegfried (Lyon) Le nozze di Figaro (Gothenburg) and a debut with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. His recordings include the Tchaikovsky Serenade and Souvenir de Florence with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe for DGG, Don Pasquale for TDK, and Die ägyptische Helena, Euryanthe and Alfonso und Estrella and for Dynamic.

Denise Sutton has been leader of the Odeion String Quartet and Head of the Strings Department at the University of the Free State since 2008. She obtained a B.Mus cum laude at the University of Stellenbosch. An Ernest Oppenheimer Memorial Scholarship enabled her to go to Amsterdam, where she studied with Theo Olof and Nap de Klijn, as well as London. She was leader of the second violins of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and successfully auditioned for the English Chamber Orchestra. With these orchestras she had the opportunity of touring the UK, France, Spain, Germany, the USA and Canada. On her return to South Africa, she was concertmaster of the PACT Orchestra for almost twenty years, and was also leader of the Transvaal Chamber Orchestra, Johannesburg Festival Orchestra and Chamber Orchestra of South Africa (COSA). She has been a member of many chamber groups, notably the Rosamunde Quartet, of which she was leader and co-founder. Denise has appeared as soloist with various orchestras. She has extensive teaching experience and has taught many successful students who are working professionally here and abroad. She serves on the jury for competitions such as ARTSCAPE and the UNISA national string competition and is an examiner for UNISA, the University of Pretoria and North-West University.

Jeanne-Louise Moolman, violist, was appointed as a member of the Odeion String Quartet and senior lecturer in viola at the University of the Free State in 2008. Studied at the University of Pretoria under Prof. Alan Solomon where she obtained the B.Mus and B.Mus.Hons degrees with distinction. In Salzburg she studied under Thomas Riebl. She is an experienced chamber musician who regularly performs in various combinations with some of South Africa’s leading musicians. Jeanne-Louise was a founding member of the Rosamunde String Quartet. As soloist she has performed several concertos, including the Suite Hebraïque (Bloch), the Concerto in C mineur of JC Bach, Harold in Italy (Berlioz) and the Sinfonia Concertante (Mozart) with different orchestras in the country. In 2008 she gave the world-premiere performance of Stefans Grové’s Concerto for Flute and Viola with the Chamber Orchestra of South Africa and was subsequently invited to perform this work at the 37th International Viola Congress in Stellenbosch. Jeanne-Louise has more than twenty years experience as principal violist of various professional orchestras in Gauteng and the Free State. As a student she won, among others, the ATKV Forté and Oude Meester competitions and in 1985 she was the first winner of the University of Natal 75th Anniversary Prize.


Admission
R120 (adults) per concert
R80 (pensioners, students and learners) per concert

Tickets @ Computicket (Shoprite / Checkers, Mimosa Mall)
Book online at www.computicket.com  

Enquiries:
Ella Kotze (FSSO), tel. 051 – 401 2342 (8:00 – 13:00)
www.fsso.org.za


 

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