Soloists : Samson Diamond Farida Bacharova (violins)

Dates : Thursday 12 March

Venue : Odeion

Time : 19:30

On Thursday 12 March the Free State Symphony Orchestra conducted by Alexander Fokkens will perform in the Odeion. The violinists Farida Bacharova and Samson Diamond will be the soloists with the orchestra in Mozart’’s Concertone for Two Violins and Orchestra and Sarasate’’s exciting Navarra for Two Violins and Orchestra, op. 33. After interval the orchestra will play Beethoven’’s majestic Symphony No. 3 (“"Eroica”").

In 1992, Farida, then the youngest female concertmaster in Russia, was the soloist for more than forty performances of ballets such as The Golden Age, The Nutcraker and Swan Lake in Tokyo’’s Metropolitan Hall. During twelve years of experience performing in Russia and on international tours, she has appeared as a soloist for ballets and as a symphonic soloist in many of the world’’s major halls, including, among others, Fischer Hall and Carnegie Hall in New York, Champs-ÉÉlyséées in Paris, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Berlin’’ Schauspiel Haus, Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Tonhalle in Zurich as well as the Moscow Conservatory Main Hall and Tchaikovsky Hall. A highlight of her orchestral career was a joint-concert with the New York Philharmonic, under the baton of Zubin Metha.

Samson was appointed leader of the Odeion String Quartet in 2013. He got his first taste of music in Soweto, where he studied with the founding director of Buskaid, Rosemary Nalden and in the UK with Richard Ireland, Pauline Nobes and Philippe Graffin. As a freelance orchestral player in the UK, Samson played in the Halléé Orchestra, the Academy of St Martins in the Fields, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Manchester Camerata, and the Academy of Ancient Music. He has been heard in concert in prestigious venues such as the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Hall in Berlin, Bela Bartok National Concert Hall in Budapest, and the Musikverein in Vienna, with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields conducted by Sir Neville Marriner.

Tickets for the concert in the Odeion are available from Computicket outlets or book online at www.computicket.com.

Admission:

R130 (adults)

R100 (pensioners)

R50 (students/learners/group bookings of 10+)

Enquiries:

Ella Kotze (FSSO), tel. (051) 401-2342 (office hours)

www.fsso.org.za