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12 March 2018 Photo Hanno Otto
Odeion School of Music opening concert presented on 17 March 2018
The Odeion School of Music Camerata 2018.
The University of the Free State’s Odeion School of Music is presenting the annual opening concert on Saturday, 17 March at 7:30pm at the Odeion. The programme will comprise a curated sequence of solo recitals, chamber music, including ensembles recited by the talented OSM students.

The Free State Youth Wind Ensemble will make their debut as part of the programme with an Ammerland recital by the Dutch composer Jacob den Haan (1959 -) as well as Majestia by James Swearingen (1947 -), an American born composer. This composition will be accompanied by a variety of diverse works.

George Foster and colleague Danré Strydom founded the ensemble in the form of a collaboration initiative between the Odeion School of Music and the Free State Symphony Orchestra. Six cellists, Chris van Zyl, Aschlin Grobbelaar, Marcus Motaung, Matthys Coetzee and John Minnaar will join forces with Prof Anmari van der Westhuizen to recite the riveting Requiem for Six Cellos and Piano, Op.66 by David Popper. 

During the concert, the OSM will bestow the Order of the OSM on string pedagogues Francois and Tilla Henkins, as a gesture of gratitude and respect for their lifelong dedication to the education and mentoring of several excellent South African violinists and cellists.

The OSM Camerata will end the concert with a rendition of the Romanian Folk Dances, Sz.56 Béla Bartok for Orchestra under the baton of Xavier Cloete. The OSM Camerata is the laureate of the first International Ictus Music Competition (University and Conservatory Orchestras) presented last year for the first time. For more information about the Odeion School of Music and the upcoming concert please visit the website.

News Archive

Beauty personified through written word
2016-07-29

Description: Zubeida Jaffer Tags: Zubeida Jaffer

Dr Thozama April, University of Fort Hare
historian, Zubeida Jaffer, current Writer-in-Residence
in the Department of Communication Sciences
at the UFS and author of Beauty of the Heart:
The life and times of Charlotte Mannya Maxeke
and Prof Jonathan Jansen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector
of the UFS at the book launch of Zubeida Jaffer.
Photo: Rulanzen Martin

“It is quite easy to write a book in a professional capacity but very difficult to write a book from the heart.”

These were the words of Prof Jonathan Jansen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the University of the Free State (UFS), at the launch of Beauty of the Heart: The life and times of Charlotte Mannya Maxeke by Zubeida Jaffer, the current Writer-in-Residence in the Department of Communication Sciences at the UFS.

Perseverance and dedication yields results

Writing a book from the heart is exactly what Jaffer, an award-winning South African journalist and author, set out to do. “When you make the choice to write a story, you need to be very dedicated,” she said.

As this is Jaffer’s third book, one would think that she would have no difficulty in putting pen to paper. On the contrary, she mentioned that it was, in fact, the hardest book she has written because the narrative was not easy to get hold of.

“I wanted Charlotte’s voice to come through, and it took my team and I three years of research and writing,” she said.

Maxeke’s story helps to shape South African society

The three-person panel, hosted by the UFS Sasol Library and SUN MeDIA, and chaired by Prof Jansen, included Jaffer and Dr Thozama April, University of Fort Hare historian who had done her PHD thesis on Maxeke.

Dr April said that Maxeke’s life story is an inspiring one, as it encourages a rethinking of established narratives. “These established narratives have made it possible for historians and researchers to write about the shaping of South African society,” she said.

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