22 april – 29 may
TRANSCRIPT
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A cultural line-up that is hard to top
A "cultural line-up that is hard to top" is how the European Union's representative in
South Africa, Roeland van de Geer, describes the European cultural month, that started
on 22 April and run through to 29 May.
The festival kicked off with a performance by the world renowned Alma Chamber
Orchestra on 22 April at the Linder Auditorium in Johannesburg. The 58-member French
orchestra then played at the Durban City Hall on 23 April before completing its tour with
a free concert at the Regina Mundi Church in Soweto on 25 April. Led by concertmaster
and artistic director Anne Gravoin, and featuring famous Brazilian pianist Nelson Freire
under the direction of Lionel Bringuier, the programmes included works by Beethoven,
Mendelssohn and Wael Binali. The concerts were part of the "Tour for Unity" of the
Alma Chamber Orchestra, brought into South Africa by the Ichikowitz Family Foundation
and the Alma Nostra Foundation to celebrate 21 years of democracy. (Page 4)
Jazz lovers had the chance to listen to Luisa Sobral from Portugal in the ever-popular
Bassline in Newtown, Johannesburg, on 22 April. Influenced by Billie Holiday, Ella
Fitzgerald, Chet Baker, Bjork to name a few, Luisa Sobral was nominated for "Best jazz
artist" at the Hollywood music awards. (Page 5)
Returning to classical music, two famous Latvian Opera stars of the Latvian National
Opera, Sonora Vaice (soprano) and Krišjānis Norvelis (baritone) performed a varied
programme including works by Mozart, Rossini, Lehar and Strauss at the Brooklyn
Theatre in Pretoria on 6 May. A second performance took place at Northwards in
Johannesburg on 7 May. (Page 6)
A travelling exhibition on Jan Hus (1369 - 1415), a Czech priest, philosopher, reformer
and educator at Prague University whose teachings influenced the states of Europe at the
time, commenced in Cape Town on 28 April. It moved to Pretoria on 5 May before
returning to the Western Cape, this time to the mission station at Genadendal on 9 May.
It ended its tour in Port Elizabeth on 18 May. (Page 7)
From 8-17 May the regular jewel in the EU's cultural calendar in South Africa, the
European Film Festival (EUFF) was screened at Cinema Nouveau theatres in
Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban. 12 EU Member States participated with
recent European releases that had all received awards or accolades including "Ida", the
2015 Oscar for best foreign language film. (Page 8)
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For something a little different, German DJs Schlachthofbronx will be performed on 12
May at Kong Club in Rosebank. The innovative multi-genre club music duo visited
Johannesburg for a one-night-only session as part of their African tour that included
concerts in Kigali, Yaoundé, Kampala and Nairobi. (Page 9)
Turning to visual arts, the oldest artistic foundry in South Africa, the Renzo Vignali
foundry opened its doors to the public on 23 and 24 May and provided a live experience
of mould making and bronze casting. Visitors were also treated to an exhibition of works
by the famous sculptor of Italian origin Edoardo Villa. (Page 10)
The Brooklyn Theatre again provided the stage on 24 May for Slovak-Hungarian duet
Sándor Jávorkai (violin) and Miriam Rodriguez Brüllová (guitar). They performed the
Violin and Guitar Romance incl. pieces of Paganini, Kreisler, Pablo de Sarasate. Then on
28 May these two accomplished musicians were joined by Czech violoncello player Petr
Nouzovsky - as a trio, they then performed the Fiesta Strings with works from composers
from the four Visegrad countries (Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary) as well as
Händel and Saint Saens. (Page 11)
The European Union Network of Cultural Institutes (EUNIC) offered two workshops, one
on "Public art and its role in audience development" in Soweto, and one on "Alternative
spaces/alternative education" in Pretoria. (Page 12)
The final event of EuropeFest was a performance on 29 May by rising Spanish star Joana
Serrat in Johannesburg at the Bassline in Newtown, as part of a celebration concert for
Africa Day. This young artist, inspired by American roots musicians including Roy Orbison,
Neil Young and Bob Dylan, already published two albums "The Relief Sessions" in 2012
and "Dear Great Canyon" in 2014. Joana Serrat recently won the 'Best Album of the Year'
award by Pop-Eye awards and 'Best Catalan Album of the Year in Other Languages' by
Enderrock. (Page 13)
EuropeFest was also highlighted in a number of radio interviews on a range of cultural
topics on stations including Radio Today, Classic FM, Kaya FM and others.