(Left: Warren
Bessey)
Friends of Music will present Ensemble
Arabesque in a world premiere performance of Variations of a Queen” for String Quartet by Warren Bessey.
Warren Bessey is a Canadian-born resident
of South Africa. He is a composer, writer, producer of music, both symphonic
and for a wide variety of media, including radio, television, advertising and
film as well as a behaviour change communication specialist, children’s author
and publisher and lecturer His productions have achieved national and
international accolades. His is a journey of many years and vast cross-cultural,
multi-national experience. Absolutely passionate about excellence and musical
truth which he demands of himself and others, his motto is: “it’s not how it
sounds but how it makes you feel which separates the good from the
outstanding.”
Ensemble Arabesque comprises Andrew
Warburton (piano); Violeta Osorhean (violin); David Snaith (viola); Aristide du
Plessis (cello) and Ralitza Macheva (violin).
(Right: Andrew
Warburton)
Andrew Warburton is acknowledged as one of
the finest solo pianists and accompanists in South Africa. He is presently
Lecturer in Piano, Director of the Opera School and Choral Academy, and head of
Western Classical Performance Studies at the UKZN School of Music.
(Left: Violeta
Osorhean)
Violeta Osorhean was born in Timisoara,
Romania. After her university studies, she
played for eight years in the National
Opera Orchestra-Cluj Napoca, then joined
the Transylvania Philharmonic Orchestra and toured Europe, Japan and the
USA. Violetta is currently the Associate Concert-Master for the KZN
Philharmonic
David Snaith was born in England. He held
Principal Viola positions with The Royal Opera House Covent Garden, The Welsh
National Opera, The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, The National Opera of
Belgium, and the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra. He was appointed Principal Viola
of The KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic in 2009.
(Left: Aristide
du Plessis)
Aristide du Plessis was born in Durban in
1989. He has established a reputation as one of South Africa’s leading
cellists, both as a soloist and chamber musician. As a soloist he has performed
since the age of 15 with all South Africa’s leading orchestras. A graduate of
the University of Cape Town, he furthered his studies at the Zürich University
of the Arts. Since his return to South Africa in April 2015, he has been the
Co-Principal Cellist with the KZN Philharmonic Orchestra.
(Right: Ralitza
Macheva)
Ralitza Macheva was born in Pleven,
Bulgaria. After graduating with Master Degrees in Music from Music Academy in
Sofia, Bulgaria and the Music Conservatorium in Enschede, Netherlands, she
worked as Principal Violin in the chamber group "Amadeus" in Seoul,
South Korea. Returning to Bulgaria a few years later she was appointed as an
Associate Concertmaster of Pleven Philharmonic Orchestra. Since 2000, she has
been the Co-Principal Second Violin for the KZNPO. She is keenly interested in
baroque period music and is the concertmaster for the Baroque 2000 Orchestra in
Durban, and also works in close collaboration with the baroque ensemble, Tinta
Baroka, in Cape Town.
The programme also features Dmitri Shostakovich’s
(1906 – 1975) Piano Quintet in G minor Op.57 and Johannes Brahms’ (1833 -1897) Piano
Quartet no. 1 in G minor Op.25.
The concert takes place at 19h30 on October
16 at the Durban Jewish Centre, 44 KE Masinga Road, Durban. Tickets R120 (FOM Members
R100) available at the door).
For more information contact Keith on 071 505
1021 or friendsofmusic@mweb.co.za
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