(William
Charlton-Perkins. Photo by Clinton Marius)
New blood infuses UKZN music
Hats off to UKZN’s School of Music for its
clear-sighted new appointment to its teaching staff of powerhouse academic, Dr
Andrew-John Bethke - a respected scholar and accomplished practicing musician
and choral director. I recently met up with this quiet-spoken Capetonian, and
came away feeling enriched by the encounter.
At 35, Dr Bethke’s CV includes a string of
degrees and a distinguished professional track record which inform a
multi-faceted philosophy towards his work. He speaks from first-hand experience
of music’s power to heal trauma victims in a troubled society, and to connect
people across cultural divides. This enlightened consciousness augers well for
our tertiary music education scene.
An award-winning composer and acclaimed
organist, Bethke is set to put across minutely detailed curricula for first-,
second- and third-year students. Aside from teaching music theory, he will
offer tuition in choral music, providing repertory knowledge and performance
skills, both to conductors and choristers.
Paying tribute to colleagues such as UKZN’s
about-to-retire staff member and leading Durban organist, Dr Christopher
Cockburn (whose post he is due to fill), and to the university’s piano studies
lecturer and leading concert pianist, Andrew Warburton, Bethke says he plans to
set down roots in Durban for the foreseeable future. So watch this space, good
things are on the horizon.
Cellist Aristide du Plessis joins
Christopher Duigan in this month’s Music Revival concert programmes. The
centrepiece is Sergei Rachmaninoff’s magnificent Sonate for Cello and Piano Op
19. This will be coupled with a selection on instrumental settings of Ave Maria - by Bach/Gounod, Giulio
Caccini, Franz Schubert and the Argentine tango composer, Astor Piazzolla.
This unusual coupling can be seen as an
acknowledgment of the lyrical and deeply religious chant-like melodies in
Rachmaninoff's music. One of the composer’s most popular works, the cello
sonata was composed at the same time as his celebrated Piano Concerto No 2 Op
18 and Two Piano Suite, shortly after he had suffered a major breakdown from
depression. The process of composing these works proved to be cathartic and
pivotal in the composer’s recovery. It is widely seen as one of the greatest
compositional outpourings in history of music.
Currently Co-Principal Cellist of the KZNPO,
Du Plessis was heard to great acclaim in the Symphony Season playing the
Saint-Saens Cello Concerto last November. Duigan, a Steinway Artist, is
regarded as one of South Africa’s foremost concert pianists and maintains a
busy schedule of recital and concerts performances across South Africa. Du
Plessis and Duigan have worked together on a number of projects in recent
years.
Their programme titled Ave Maria: The Rachmaninoff Cello Sonata will be presented in
several venues. Starting in Ballito on Tuesday February 20 at 19h00 at Ashton
International College (Tickets R150), they move to Pietermaritzburg on February
25 at 11h30 at the Tatham Art Gallery (tickets are R80), and then appear in Kloof at St Agnes Church
on February 27 at 19h30 (tickets are R100).
For all performances, booking is via Music
Revival Booking Line 083 417 4473 (WhatsApp and sms only) or
booking@musicrevival.co.za. Tickets are also available at the door. For more information and additional
performances visit www.musicrevival.co.za.
A reminder that the KwaZulu-Natal
Philharmonic Orchestra’s four-concert Summer Season runs in the Playhouse Opera
Theatre each Thursday between February 22 and March 15. Performances start at
19h30. The opening concert sees KZNPO Associate Guest Conductor, Daniel Boico,
on the podium with a programme that includes three concert block-busters -
Frantz Liszt’s Les Préludes;
Saint-Saëns’s Piano Concerto No 2 in G minor (soloist Anna Dmytrenko) and
Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 in F minor.
Season tickets and bookings for individual
concert tickets are available through Computicket. Call 0861 915 8000 or book
online at www.computicket.com. For more information call 031 369 9438, email
bookings@kznphil.org.za or visit www.kznphil.org.za.-
William Charlton-Perkins
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