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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

Busy medical student’s message to Kovsies
2014-05-23

Stefan van der Westhuizen is a third-year medical student at Kovsies and although he performs well academically, it is not only his studies that keep him busy.

In 2012 Stefan was part of the Leadership for Change programme visiting the International Christian University in Tokyo and in 2013 he visited Stanford’s Sophomore College in California. More recently, he was a guest speaker at this year’ Kovsie Open Day.

His message to current and prospective Kovsies is as follows.

“It is important to me that all students should know: at Kovsies it isn’t only about what you see at the surface. At Kovsies we build a holistic student. And there is a great variety of opportunities – this is what made me decide to come here.”

“The more you do, the more you can do. Something important that I would like to say to prospective medical students, is: here at Kovsies you will not only swot medicine. You learn to be a human being. And this is something you won’t find at other universities.”

“You must decide what you want to achieve, who you want to be and where you want to make a difference. I would rather be a 60% medical student than a 60% human being.”

Stefan would like to go abroad again in future, but then he would like to study at an American medical university. He aims to eventually specialise in cardiothoracic surgery.

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