ECPO to celebrate 20th concert
The 20th anniversary concert of the Eastern Cape Philharmonic Orchestra is at 3pm on Sunday at the Feather Market Centre.
The orchestra came about when Capab (the Cape Performing Arts Board) withdrew from the Eastern Cape after the new division of provinces in 1994.
The ECPO’s first concert, Celebrate the Philharmonic!, was presented in May 1998, with Alan Stephenson conducting and pianist Erika Bothma as soloist.
The 2018 concert will carry the same name and ECPO concertmaster David Bester, who is the strings lecturer in the NMU music department, will be the soloist.
Gill Barnett, orchestra manager for 17 of the 20 years, remembered the highlights as well as the lean years, when lack of funding threatened to close the orchestra.
“Somehow we managed to keep playing even when it seemed almost impossible.
“This was largely due to the goodwill of our wonderful players who, on more than one occasion have volunteered to play for no fee just to keep the orchestra going,” she said.
Alex Fokkens will conduct and the programme will begin with Offenbach’s Overture to Orpheus in the Underworld.
Bester’s performance of Bruch’s Violin Concerto No 1
will be a highlight on Sunday.
He has MMus degrees cum laude from Stellenbosch University and the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp in Belgium. ● Tickets are R90 and R110 at Computicket, with limited R75 tickets for pupils/pensioners. Inquiries: Gill, 041-581-7747.