Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Previous Archive
16 February 2023 | Story Rulanzen Martin | Photo Anja Aucamp
Samson Diamond, Jeanne-Louise Moolman, Prof Anmari van der Westhuizen-Joubert, and Sharon de Kock with the QoP instruments created by luthier Brian Lisus to honour SA’s Nobel peace laureates.

Hope, the viola; Freedom, the first violin; Peace, the second violin; and Reconciliation, the cello, collectively known as the Quartet of Peace (QoP), have found their home at the UFS. The Odeion String Quartet (OSQ) has been made the custodians of this world-famous quartet created by Brian Lisus. The instruments were created by Lisus in 2010 to commemorate the four Nobel peace laureates of South Africa, namely Albert Luthuli, Nelson Mandela, FW de Klerk, and Desmond Tutu. In March 2022, Lisus presented a lecture in the Odeion Theatre to officially present these instruments to the UFS.

Many new performing opportunities 

“The trustees found that justice will be done by making the Odeion String Quartet the new custodians, since they are the only quartet-in-residence at a South African university,” says Prof Anmari van der Westhuizen-Joubert, cellist and Head of the OSQ.

As the custodians of the QoP, it brought many new performing opportunities, both nationally and internationally. “It can also be used in presentations of lectures on all subjects and not only of a political nature. In this way, string quartet music reaches more people than just those who go to concert halls,” Prof Van der Westhuizen-Joubert says. The OSQ consists of Prof Van der Westhuizen-Joubert (cellist), Samson Diamond (violinist and leader of the string quartet), Sharon de Kock (violinist), and Jeanne-Louise Moolman (violinist).

Unique part of UFS identity

The uniqueness of the QoP instruments will be an important element of the OSQ, the Odeion School of Music, the Faculty of the Humanities, as well as the entire UFS community. “One of the plans is to raise money to enable students to come and study with the Odeion String Quartet members at the UFS,” Prof Van der Westhuizen-Joubert says. Another historic moment with these instruments took place in October 2022, when the instruments took centre stage at a concert hosted by Prof Francis Petersen, UFS Rector and Vice-Chancellor, at Constitution Hill in Johannesburg. At this event, the QoP instruments were introduced to the public, important stakeholders, and to guests of the UFS. Other plans include trips to international festivals such as the Ojai Music Festival in the USA in 2023 and the String Quartet Biennale in Amsterdam in 2024.

*This article  first appeared in the Bult Magazine.

News Archive

German institute invites UFS academic to research on algae to replace fossil fuels
2015-05-08

Prof Johan Grobbelaar
Photo: Hannes Pieterse

Professor Johan Grobbelaar, from the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of the Free State, has been invited by the Institute of Bio- and Geosciences - IBG-2 at Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH - to do research in Germany from 8 June 2015 to 4 September 2015.

During his research, Prof Grobbelaar will work on the institute’s large-scale outdoor cultivation of green micro-algae with the aim of finding alternate fuels for the aviation industry. This work includes the cultivation of algae in the laboratory, outdoors, and in the greenhouse; the mentoring of local scientists as well as assistance in, and planning of experiments for, green algae cultivation.

Prof Grobbelaar’s research focus is on Algal biotechnology, Limnology, and Photosynthesis. He has authored more than 80 articles in scientific journals, 18 chapters in scientific books, delivered more than 120 papers at scientific meetings, 41 of them at international congresses.  Among others, he was honoured with the highest award bestowed on a person by the International Association of Applied Phycologists with the title ‘Distinguished Applied Phycologist’.

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