Young musicians from across the country will soon take part in the 2010 National Grahamstown Youth Music Competition.
Young musicians from across the country will soon take part in the 2010 National Grahamstown Youth Music Competition.
Special interest lies in the concerto section this year, where 19 contestants will vie with each other on Saturday morning 24 July from 9 am in the Beethoven Room of the Music Department at Rhodes University.
The first round for the junior, senior and tertiary sections will take place in the Drill Hall of St Andrew’s College (behind the chapel) all day on Thursday 22 July starting at 9.30 am.
The second round runs in the same venue all day on Friday 23 July from 10 am. Entrance is free to all these rounds on 22, 23 and 24 July and the performances should be well worth hearing, so members of the public are warmly invited to come because the competition thrives on its audience.
The finalists’ concert at junior, senior and tertiary levels will be held in the St Andrew’s College Drill Hall on Saturday 24 July at 7.30 pm.
Tickets for this exciting clincher are available at the door at R40 for adults (R20 for tertiary students). Schoolgoers in uniform are admitted for free.
The winners in the concerto section will perform with the Rhodes University orchestra in a Concerto Festival in October.
The concerto finale was a great highlight of the competition in 2009 and promises to thrill the audience again in 2010.
The competition, now in its fourth year, is supported by an anonymous donor, Rhodes University, St Andrew’s College and the Diocesan School for Girls.
Unisa while Lee Gold contributed the section prizes, and Tim Huisamen is sponsoring the Schumann and Chopin prizes.
The organisers, the Grahamstown Music Society (GMS), have again secured two fine adjudicators for 2010. Dr John Roos, from Unisa, judges international competitions, and Anmari van der Westhuizen, a cellist in the Odeion Quartet, was recently chosen by Unisa as a seasoned judge for their strings competition.
The GMS notes that competitors are offering a wider range of music this year. Piano continues as a mainstay for many, while others will perform with voice, flute, clarinet, trumpet, alto saxophone, recorder, violin, cello and percussion.
This feast of music, the committee believes, will encourage young talent in the Eastern Cape and beyond.
