Spring will come alive with a symphony of sounds on Sunday as the Eastern Cape Philharmonic Orchestra (ECPO) hosts its Spring Symphony at the Feather Market Hall.
The symphony will see the orchestra presenting breathtaking music under the baton of internationally renowned conductor Daniel Boico accompanied by talented Italian pianist Filippo Gorini.
The audience is set to enjoy classics such as Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 5 The Emperor that was composed in 1809 and Dvořák’s Symphony No 7, which was completed in 1885.
The orchestra will also present the world premiere of Warren Bessey’s new orchestral overture “Poet, Soldier, King”.
Orchestra creative director David Bester said the orchestra had enjoyed one of its best year’s since its inception in 1998, with this weekend’s symphony being its sixth concert.
He said they were privileged to host Boico, the former music director and chief conductor of the MÁV Budapest Symphony Orchestra, as well internationally acclaimed Gorini.
“We are very lucky to have reached the level where we can work with these types of conductors, that is very exciting for the orchestra,” Bester said.
“Gorini is based in the US, he is world famous in his field, we are lucky to have him with our orchestra.
“Our events are normally two-hour events with two halves.
“We will open Sunday’s event with a piece called Poet, Soldier, King. It is by a composer based in SA in KwaZulu-Natal called Warren Bessey.
“It is a piece that explores very interesting themes, there are similar historical themes to the new series, Shaka iLembe, but explored through music.
“People will probably cry during the Spring Symphony.”
Bester said they relied on various funders such as the Mzansi National Philharmonic Orchestra, the Rupert Music Foundation and the National Arts Council, among other funders.
As the artistic director, Bester said they constantly had to network with composers while keeping an ear to the ground for the latest compositions, what kind of music was available and what their audiences wanted.
He said people should consider their performances as not being strictly classical.
“Take Bessey’s work, it incorporates elements of rock music as well.
“I think we need to move away from this classification of classical music, I think we can say live orchestral music which is performed by top performers in the province.
“Among young people, I found that once they come to a show, the feedback we get is that they love this type of music.
“Senior music students at Nelson Mandela University get to hone their skills with the orchestra so there is a huge appetite for this music in the city and listening to it live,” Bester said.
He said it was unheard of to have an orchestra that was not full time and still able to host the number of concerts that they had.
A hunger and need to be in an orchestra doing what they loved and being submerged into music was what motivated the members of the orchestra, he said.
“The art sector is underdeveloped in this part of the world, but it is one of the sections that has so much potential for job creation.
“We have the talent here, that is the most important reason we fight to keep the genre alive here, we want to keep our artists here, we are fighting for that,” Bester said.
The concert at the Feather Market Hall will start at 2.30pm, tickets are available online starting from R100 to R170.
The Herald
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