My last blog ended with praising the youthful talent in Cape Town and last week there was just more of the same!
For our last community concert (with CPO) we travelled to Langa, one of the townships along the N2. When going to the poorer areas we are always aware and a bit wary as the stories we hear are serious and the circumstances can be violent and dangerous. So I took the car…
Driving into Langa showed a very different story though and I immediately regretted not taking the bike! Yes, it’s obvious it is not the rich and posh side of Cape Town, but there was no sign of dodgy people hanging on corners, rubbish on the roads or roads full of potholes etc.. There was ample parking next to the hall we played and we met super friendly people there.
To get back to my talented youth topic … we were to play with a youth choir again, another one, and they just blew my mind!!! A youth marimba/percussion group joined us too and they were so tight 🤘🏻 DJ Tiesto and David Guetta eat your heart out… 😉
I am blown away every time again when we get to an area/suburb like that and there’s a full choir of teenagers singing their hearts out, 4 voiced, in tune, in time, with passion in their hearts …. it is one of the things that makes living in South Africa so amazing. I have never seen this drive in Europe, specially in teens. So for this Dutchie it’s very special 😁 (check my insta feed for vids)
On Saturday I took a nice ride out to Blouberg because I was bullied into going to a concert … I was send comps unasked …. aggressive marketing nogal! 😉 Luckily the marketing strategy came from my dear friend Liesl Stoltz and I was contemplating on going already anyway. A lovely French melange of music was on the program with David Pinoit on cello, Jan Hugo behind the piano and his wife singing the soprano parts.
After a nice lunch at Ons Huisie I was treated to beautiful music played avec joie de vivre and Jan Hugo was marvellous behind the keys …. Jan Hugo …. 🤔 …. Jan Hugo ….. mmm ….. let’s check the CPO schedule ….. right, he’s the soloist for this week’s Symphony Concert at City Hall playing Liszt’s 1st concerto! So this morning I had the pleasure of hearing him play again 🙂
Next to Liszt we are rehearsing Shostakovich 5th Symphony this week with Maestro Gueller leading us. This symphony is always exciting for all orchestra members as it’s full of audition repertoire that we all had to study at some point and it’s great to get to play it ‘for real’. For those coming to the concert, spot the basses hitting a high F down the fingerboard in the 1st movement! I am so happy I have a 5 bass section for this week and all capable players who are just shredding their basses when needed 👊🏻 Love it!
Follow above link if you want to come see Jan Hugo or the basses in action 😉
To be continued … 🙂
Roxane Steffen 