Event information
The Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival (SICMF) 2024 brings audiences ten coveted evening concerts at Stellenbosch University's Endler Hall. In addition, the bumper intake of almost 300 student participants perform in a variety of chamber music ensembles daily at 1pm and 5pm in the Fismer Hall.
As in previous years, the concerts feature a star-studded lineup of internationally acclaimed artists in various combinations. For those who enjoy Baroque, Vivaldi's concerto for violin, cello and string orchestra features the formidable coupling of Daniel Rowland (violin) and Maja Bogdanović (cello) as soloists. A newly published arrangement from Beethoven's day of his fourth piano concerto is also set to be played for the first time in South Africa by the award-winning pianist, Emanuil Ivanov.
Other gems from the Classical and early Romantic era include Mendelssohn's third string quartet, Schubert's 'Trockne Blumen' and a seldom heard, but beautiful octet by Woldemar Bargiel. The great late Romantic period is represented by pieces including Dvořák's second piano quintet, Saint-Saëns Caprice for winds and piano, and Taneyev's momentous piano quintet in G minor. This year the SICMF has commissioned a world premiere from prominent South African composer, Pieter Bezuidenhout, which together with works by international composers Caroline Shaw, Oswaldo Golijov, Jörg Widmann and Garth Knox, receive their South African premieres.
Returning stars from the past include Nicolas Dautricourt, Madeline Adkins and Andrey Baranov (violin), Boris Andrianov (cello), YaoGuang Zhai (clarinet), Dwight Parry (oboe), Marco Silva (trumpet) and Jauvon Gilliam (percussion). Newcomers include the sensational Russian flute virtuoso Ekaterina Kornishina, Ivy Ringel, the principal bassoonist of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Fedor Belugin, violist of the internationally acclaimed David Oistrakh String Quartet, and the celebrated double bass player, Zoran Marković to name a few.
The last three concerts feature performances by the Festival Symphony (FSO) and Festival Concert orchestras (FCO). The FSO, under the baton of Michael Repper who makes his South African debut, perform Borodin's great second symphony as well as accompany the duo of Andrey Baranov and Boris Andrianov in the Brahms Double concerto on Friday 12 July and Jennifer Stumm in Bartok's viola concerto on Sunday 14 July.
The main work on the FCO programme is Dvořák's eighth symphony, one of the most beloved symphonies of all time. FCO conductor, Simeone Tartaglione, also makes his South African debut at the SICMF.
