 Cape Philharmonic Oratorio FestivalSunday 13 April
Groote Kerk, 16:00 The Cape Philharmonic Orchestra presents an oratorio festival from 30 March to 13 April together with prominent local choirs and soloists. All three concerts in the series take place in the Groote Kerk, Cape Town. Conductor: Barry Smith
Mozart: Requiem
Barry Smith Hanneli Rupert Dr Barry Smith was born in Port Elizabeth where his love of music was fired by his time as a choirboy at St Mary’s Collegiate Church. He was awarded a scholarship to Rhodes University. Another scholarship took him to England in 1960 where he studied at the Royal School of Church Music. After two years as director of music at Michael House, he was appointed Organist and Master of the Choristers of St George’s Cathedral in Cape Town, a post he held for 42 years. From many years he was on the staff of the Faculty of Music at the University of Cape Town. He is also founder and director of the St. George’s Singers. Besides conducting in England (the Bournemouth Sinfonietta and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra), Austria and Israel, he has made several solo recital tours in America and England where he played in several prestigious venues including Westminster Abbey and King’s College, Cambridge. He is also an author of numerous books on the English composer, Peter Warlock. He has been awarded honorary fellowships by both the Royal School of Church Music and the Guild of Church Musicians in England and by Archbishop Tutu with the Order of Simon of Cyrene, the highest honour the Anglican Church in Southern Africa can bestow on a layman.
Hanneli Rupert has established herself as one of South Africa's most sought after mezzo-sopranos. She studied at the University of Stellenbosch and received private tuition from Ernst Haefliger in Munich, Germany. As Lieder and oratorio performer of note, she has performed in Denmark, Austria, Germany, Switzerland and South Africa. During 1992 she made her American debut with performances of Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde with the National Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Mstislav Rostropovich at Washington's Kennedy Center. She demonstrated her world-class status with her critically acclaimed CD recording (on RCA’s prestigious Red Seal label) of Mahler and Wagner songs with the Cape Philharmonic and was also the soloist in the CPO's world premiére recording of Alfred Schnittke’s oratorio Nagasaki (with the Voice of the Nation Choir) under Owain Arwel Hughes made during the first Cape Town International Summer Music Festival in 2006 by the BIS label. In 1995, after having accompanied the Bellville Civic Choir as a soloist during its European tour, Arthur Swan decided to abandon his legal career in favour of a career in music. Upon his return, he took up singing lessons with Prof. George van der Spuy and started performing regularly in Cape Town, giving recitals and singing the solo tenor parts in various productions. At the 1996 Bellville Singing Competition, he shared the Lieder Prize with the soprano, Birgit Ottermann. Arthur Swan left for Spain in 1999, where he studied with maestro Miguel Fernandez Cuevas and David Mason (ex Trinity College). During his stay in Spain, he performed with the prestigious Madrid-based chamber choir, La Capilla Real, and attended master classes with Enza Ferrari. He returned to South Africa in 2002 to further his opera studies under the tuition of Lize Thomas at the Vocal Art Department of the Tshwane University of Technology. Since his return to South Africa, Arthur Swan has participated in master classes by Prof. Svein Bjørkøy from Norway. Runette Botha obtained a B.Com Accounting degree at the Rand Afrikaans University. She has performed in a Luxembourg production of the Mozart Requiem under the direction of Pierre Nimax Jr in 2003. Ms Botha was a semi-finalist in the first Unisa National Voice Competition in 2005. She performed in the Youth Music Festival with the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Christopher Dowdeswell in 2007. She sang the role of Yvette in Puccini’s La Rondine and Poussette in Massenet’s Manon in 2007. In 2007 she won second prize in the Schock Foundation’s Competition for classical voice. She is currently completing the Performers Diploma in Opera at UCT. Conroy Scott started playing the flute and clarinet at an early age. When he was fifteen he started singing in various choir projects of the New Apostolic Church. In 2005 he enrolled at the University of Cape Town and is currently doing his fourth year in opera studies. As a double bass player he performs with the UCT String Ensemble, UCT Symphony Orchestra, UCT Wind Band and the New Apostolic Church. Mr Scott’s repertoire includes lead baritone roles in Puccini’s La Rondine and Massenet’s Manon. His oratorio repertoire includes amongst others Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Requiem, the Solemn Vespers of the Confessor and Coronation Mass, Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy, Bach’s St John’s Passion and Cantatas, and Rossini’s Petite Messe.
Booking: Book at Computicket or Artscape Dial-a-Seat (021 421 7695) Some tickets may also be available at the door. Back |
