Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Previous Archive
30 September 2021 | Story Marius Coetzee and Rulanzen Martin | Photo Supplied
From the left: Werner Stolze of Stolze Pianos (sponsor), Karlin Kock (Trio Con Brio), Dr Mageshen Naidoo (adjudicator – UP), Kagiso Ramosa (Trio Con Brio), Renette Bouwer (adjudicator – UJ), Maria Yasbeck (Trio Con Brio), and Prof Wessel van Wyk from UP.

The Trio Con Brio ensemble in the Odeion School of Music (OSM) was crowned winners of the open category during the final round of the national SASMT Ensemble competition, which took place on 22 September 2021.  The Trio Con Brio comprises OSM students Kagiso Ramosa (clarinet), Maria Yasbeck (violin), and Karlin Kock (piano).

OSM lecturers, Drs Danre Strydom, Sharon de Kock, and Anneke Lamont served as instructors and mentors during the preparation phase. “The trio prepared their concert programme with an interesting methodology, by having weekly instruction from all lecturers individually on a rotation basis,” says Marius Coetzee, Artistic Director of the Odeion School of Music Camerata (OSMC). Elsabé Raath serves as the principal instructor. 

The OSMC took second place in the concert programme, while the instructor of the OSM Brass Quintet, George Foster, and the convenor, Quinn Kakora, were also selected to participate in the first round of the competition. Their recital was highly ranked and came third in the first round.

 SASMT competition develops young musicians 

The first SASMT Pretoria Ensemble Competition took place in September 2017. It would be the first competition of this nature to be held in the northern region of South Africa. The goal was to create an opportunity for young musicians to compete in groups, rather than focusing on solo performances. The feedback from the initial competition was overwhelmingly positive, culminating in the decision to make it an annual event.

The competition aims to develop young musicians through collaborative participation and by encouraging the enjoyment of performing with others. Another objective is to foster understanding, love, and appreciation for ensemble music and the performance thereof among young musicians. 

News Archive

SRC elections of our Bloemfontein Campus
2011-07-26

The Student Council elections of our university at the Bloemfontein Campus will take place on 29 and 30 August 2011. These official election dates were announced by Mr Rudi Buys, Dean: Student Affairs, on 25 July 2011.

Nominations open on Wednesday, 27 July 2011 and the elections, which are constituted according to the SRC Constitution, shall be handled by the Independent Electoral Agency, which shall be instituted by the SRC Constitution with this in view.
 
“The elections introduce a new era in student leadership and governance, because student representation will now constituted in such a way that affords the majority of students the opportunity to vote directly for their representatives. Senior leadership structures are extended in the new Constitution, in order to allow more students to hold senior positions,” states Mr Buys.
 
The SRC elections follow on the approval of a new Constitution that was accepted by our Council on 3 June 2011.
 
The Constitution was drafted over a period of eight months by the Broad Student Transformation Forum (BSTF), consisting of students, in order to design a new dispensation in student structures. The BSTF, which decided on new models of student representation in collaboration with independent facilitators, consists of more than 70 student organisations and residences. The changes to the Constitution were decided on and accepted by the BSTF, after recommendations from four student study groups, which investigated student leadership and governance in depth, at national as well as international level, were taken into account. The study groups visited nine (9) other SA universities, as well as investigated student representation at internationally renowned universities like Cornell, Yale and Stanford in the United States of America.
 
Ms Modieyi Motholo, Chairperson of the Interim Student Committee, says that she is very proud of what the students have achieved with the new Constitution. “I wish to accord recognition to all the students who lead the process for all their hard work. Constitutional revision is a strenuous process and it is nothing short of a miracle that the students could not only reconstruct the Constitution, but also have it accepted in less than a year.”
 
The important changes include, amongst others:

  • Candidates no longer stand on behalf of parties in the elections, but as independent candidates for 10 predetermined portfolios for which students can vote directly;
  • Students also directly vote for a President and a Vice-President;
  • Nine (9) SRC members serve ex-officio as SRC members by virtue of being chairpersons of nine additional student councils established by the Constitution. Amongst others, the councils include a postgraduate student council, an international student council, a student media council and a student academic affairs council;
  • More stringent eligibility requirements are set for candidates, namely that students who wish to run in the elections has to, amongst others, sustain an academic average of more than 60%, and hold proven student leadership experience (which could be verified by the Independent Electoral Agency).

 
“With the SRC elections, students have the opportunity to firmly entrench the changes in student governance on which they have decided on by  themselves firmly, as a sustainable model for democracy at our Bloemfontein Campus. It speaks volumes that the number of leadership positions for which candidates can make themselves available, in essence has been increased by the number of additional student sub-councils from 21 to 67, because it brings about much more direct representation for different students across the campus,” says Mr Buys.
 
“I firmly believe that the upcoming student council elections will be a success,” says Motholo. “I wish the students, who are prepared to sacrifice a year of their lives in service of the student community as a member of the SRC, all of the best.”
 
The Qwaqwa Campus’ election schedule shall be announced within the next week, as well as the date of the institution of the Central Student Council (CSC).

Media Release
26 July 2011
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Director: Strategic Communication
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: news@ufs.ac.za
 
 

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept