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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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For colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf

Venue:  Scaena Theatre, UFS-Main Campus

Language: English 

Genre: Choreopoem / Drama

 

Date and times:

12 September @ 19:30

13 September @ 19:30

14 Septermber@ 19:30

 

Tickets:         

R 40.00 per person

R 30.00 for students, scholars,

R 25.00 for pensioners

 

Bookings Computicket (0861 915 8000)

 A beautiful fusion between dance, poetry, drama and music is what you can expect in For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf, the next play brought to the stage by the University of the Free State Drama Department. Issues women all over the world are struggling with, like abuse, identity crises, the coming of age and self-love, empowerment and depression, are themes this choreopoem explores. Written in 1975 by American author Ntozake Shange, it is today just as relevant as then.

 For Colored Girls uses nineteen poems by seven women who experience different individual problems. Each of these characters go through a journey of their own but come to realise that they are not alone. While they are all confronted with similar issues, they are not as different from each other after all.

“she’s half-notes scattered

without rhythm/ no tune

sing her sighs

sing the song of her possibilities

sing a righteous gospel

let her be born”- Lady in Brown

The characters’ names reflect the colours of the rainbow: Lady in Red, Lady in Blue, Lady in Brown, Orange, Yellow, Purple and Green.

American playwright, poet and feminist activist fighting for the rights of black women, Ntozake Shange, was born in Trenton New Jersey, as Paulette Williams. When she separated from her first husband, she often attempted to commit suicide. However, focusing her anger and hurt on the limitations that black women have she was able to regain her inner strength. She then took her African name, from South African friends at the time – Ntozake Shange – which means “she who comes with her own things “and “she who walks like a lion”.

Being an educator, performer/director, writer and committed solo spoken word artist, she said “the poems find[ing] their way through me to the audience”, but that she was so nervous in the beginning of putting these poems into a performance, because “I was a performance poet, not a theatre artist.”

For Colored Girls will be performed by second year drama students from the UFS, from 12 – 14 September 2018, at 9:30 in the Scaena Theatre, UFS.

Please note the age restriction of 16 years, as some content is too mature for younger viewers. Tickets are available at Computicket. For more information go to https://www.facebook.com/ufsdrama/

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