Events

A Plea for Peace

Concert with the Symphony Choir of Cape Town

• Dates:  16 & 17 August 2024
• Venue:  Cape Town City Hall

The programme started with a rousing compilation of Olympic fanfares and tunes, which concluded with the famous Summon The Heroes theme.  Hans Zimmer’s title theme of the HBO series The Pacific follows.  This moving series dramatises World War II in the Pacific Theatre.

The band then played two arrangements of traditional repertoire, two movements from The Planets by Gustav Holst: Mars, the Bringer of War and Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity, with the famous I Vow to Thee melody.  The choir then joined the band in the performance of John Williams’ Hymn to the Fallen from the film score of Saving Private Ryan, a film set in 1944 in Normandy, France.  Eric Coates’s famous Dam Busters March commemorates one of the major victories of the Allies in 1943, a turning point in WWII.  The first half concluded with the moving hymn set by James Swearingen, Lead on, O King Eternal.

The major work of the evening was Karl Jenkins’ The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace.  The anti-war message of this work is communicated though the musical setting of selected text of the Catholic Mass, with the poignant addition of the IslamicCall to Prayer, the Jewish funeral chant of Psalm 23 sung in Hebrew, and the sounding of the Last Post – this work embodies our unified Plea for Peace!

This monumental concert was excellently performed by WindWorx in collaboration with the Symphony Choir of Cape Town, the Stellenbosch University Symphonic Wind Ensemble, and choirs from SACS and Herschell high schools.  Conductor Levi Alexander led the 250 performers in a packed City Hall, including muezzin Hassen Khaka and soprano Beverly Chiat praying in a traditional Muslim Adhaan and a Hebrew version of Psalm 23 respectively as part of the moving Armed Man oratorio.

The Annual WindWorx Fanfare 

WindWorx Fanfare 2024 was held on 3 and 4 May at the Bellville high School and was attended by 22 bands, made up of about 750 musicians, performing over two days.

The adjudicators were wind band experts Liam Burden, Felicia Lesch and Kenny Leibbrandt who, this year, gave independant reports to participants to further the festival aim of not being a competition.

The opening concert on 3 May included participants of the day and the Windworx Symphonic Wind Ensemble under direction of Liam Burden.

On the programme was A Festival Prelude (Alfred Reed), El Camino Real (Alfred reed), Arutiunian Tuba Concerto, with special guest Jarett McCourt (first photo below), and The Empire Strikes Back, celebrating “Star Wars Day” on May the 4th (be with you).

On 4 May the evaluations continued and the festival ended with a final concert with more participants of the weekend taking the stage and ending with massed junior and senior bands conducted by Jeany Kelly, Peter Catzavalos, Charlene Verster and Riaan van Wyk.

Colours 

UCT Symphonic Wind Ensemble

• Date:  7 May 2024
• Venue:  Baxter Concert Hall, Rondebosch, Cape Town

The UCT Symphonic Wind Ensemble, comprising of about forty-five under- and post-graduate students performed their first concert of 2024, conducted by post-graduate diploma student in conducting Damian Philander.

The programme included William Schuman’s Chester overture, Norman dello Joio’s Scenes from “The Louvre” as well as Claude Michel Schonberg’s Miss Saigon medley. The concert was titled “Colours” after Bert Appermont’s Colours for trombone, a virtuoso concert piece, which featured newly appointed CPO trombonist, James George as soloist.

Saxophone Symposium 

• Date:  7 May 2024
• Venue:  Endler Hall, Stellenbosch

The symposium, which was open to high school learners and tertiary-level students across the Western Cape, included ensemble performances and masterclasses and culminated in a Saxophone Extravaganza which featured performances by the ensembles, and solo works for saxophone accompanied by the University of Stellenbosch Symphonic Wind Ensemble (USSWE), conducted by visiting Belgian conductor, and extraordinary professor (conducting, brass) in the Music Department, Rik Ghesquière.  Kurt Bertels, specialist classical saxophonist, from Belgium, performed the first concerto composed for the saxophone, by Paul Gilson.

Departmental saxophone lecturer, Liam Burden, performed the challenging Legend of a Giant, Kevin Houbin, which he debuted in 2022 in the City Hall, accompanied by the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Ghesquière.  Other works on the programme included Saxflight, Alain Crepin and the performance ended with a performance of Saxophone Rag, James Ployhar, with massed saxophone choir.

Band Extravaganza

• Date:  27 April 2024
• Venue:  Endler Hall, Stellenbosch

This year, the University of Stellenbosch Symphonic Wind Ensemble (USSWE), conducted by Pamela Kierman, Reghardt Kühn and Bridget Rennie-Salonen, celebrated Freedom Day with the ever-popular annual Band Extravaganza Concert.

Participating bands from the Cape Town Southern Suburbs included the Wynberg Progress Christmas Band, a community band, conducted by SU student Cody Constable, the South African College High School Concert Band, conducted by Levi Alexander, and the Wynberg Boys’ and Girls’ High School Concert Band, conducted by Peter Catzavelos.

The Bellville High School Symphonic Wind Band, under the baton of Riaan van Wyk, and the Durbanville High School Wind Band, conducted by Suretha Theron, represented the Northern Suburbs.

They were also joined by the Concert Band of Paarl Boys’ High School, Suonare, under the baton of Reghardt Kühn.