Music at Spiritfest 2016
In the 2016 National Arts Festival Spiritfest is again presenting a variety of musical genres, in the churches of Grahamstown. No charge for entry at any of these events, but there will be retiring collections.
See below for details, and follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/spiritfest.grahamstown
Music at Spiritfest 2016
In the 2016 National Arts Festival Spiritfest is again presenting a variety of musical genres, in the churches of Grahamstown. No charge for entry at any of these events, but there will be retiring collections.
See below for details, and follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/spiritfest.grahamstown
Friday 1 July: Organ Recital, Cathedral
Andrew-John Bethke Dr Andrew-John Bethke, Director of Music at Grahamstown Cathedral. Don't miss this opportunity to hear an outstanding young musician and a world-class cathedral organ. The programme will include works by Samuel Sebastian Wesley, Johann Sebastian Bach, Felix Mendelssohn and Louis James Alfred Lefébure-Wély.
Time: 3-3.50pm
Venue: Grahamstown Cathedral
Friday 1 July: Choral Evensong
The service will feature the Cathedral Choir and works by South African composers and authors. During the service, Dr Sizwe Mabizela, Vice-Chancellor of Rhodes University, will receive the Dean's Award from the Very Rev Andrew Hunter, Dean of Grahamstown.
Time: 5.30-6.30pm
Venue: Grahamstown Cathedral
Saturday 2 July: Concert
A concert performance of the Chamber Eucharist by Andrew-John Bethke (see below), together with the world premier of the same composer’s String Quartet. Featuring the Gate Quartet: Duncan Samson, Hayley Jackson, Lizzie Rennie and Lindsay Johnston, and invited singers. All the music in this programme was inspired by the traditional music of Africa.
Time: 10-11am (please note this is the correct time, not 3pm as advertised in the Festival programme).
Venue: Grahamstown Cathedral
Sunday 3 July: Festival Eucharist
Come and participate in a magnificent choral Eucharist with rousing hymns led by the cathedral director of music and organist Dr Andrew-John Bethke. The mass setting A Chamber Eucharist was written by Dr Bethke for a talented group of local singers and instrumentalists. Using a variety of musical styles from around Africa and beyond, he wrote this work as a response to recent outbreaks of xenophobic violence.
Preacher: The Very Rev Andrew Hunter, Dean of Grahamstown.
Time: 9.30am
Venue: Grahamstown Cathedral
Sunday 3 July: Arthur Wellington Methodist Choir
This choir from the Grahamstown District won the 2015 Connexional Music Competition, and has toured overseas. Come and hear them sing spiritual favourites from South Africa and beyond.
Times: 3-4pm
Venue: Commemoration Methodist Church, Church Square
Tuesday 5 July and Friday 8 July: St Michael's Marimbas
This year the group is going to play music exclusively from Africa. Come and enjoy the vibe presented by musicians with rhythm in their souls.
Time: 1.15pm
Venue: Grahamstown Cathedral
Tuesday 5 July: Organ Recital, Commemoration Church
Professor Albert Troskie, renowned Eastern Cape organist, composer and author, plays the recently restored 1875 Bevington pipe organ of Commemoration Methodist Church. He has selected mostly Romantic music for which the organ is ideally suited, including works by Lang, Sullivan, Mailly, Nieland, Verdi, and also music by himself, and by Bach, Handel and contemporary American composers.
Time: 3-3.50pm
Venue: Commemoration Methodist Church
Wednesday 6 July: Lucernarium
A lucernarium is a simple service of lighting the lamps before the darkness of evening sets in. It is an ancient liturgy which formed the basis of evening prayer from the 4th to the 9th centuries. Vestiges of it are still discernible in modern liturgies. The service will begin in darkness and will centre around lighting a central Christ candle and then lighting numerous candles around the church. A small choir will lead plainsong sections of the service. It is a must for those who enjoy contemplative liturgical worship.
Time:5.30-6.10pm
Venue: Grahamstown Cathedral
Sunday 10 July: Festival Eucharist
Come and be inspired by a music-filled, devotional Eucharist, with the choir of the Diocesan School for Girls in Grahamstown.
Preacher: The Rev Gary Griffiths-Smith, the school chaplain at the St. Andrew's College in Grahamstown.
Time: 9.30am
Venue: Grahamstown Cathedral
