Musical magic: introducing the Jazz & Classical Encounters Festival at Spier!
On Saturday 3 November 2018, music lovers will be treated to a feast of jazz and classical music under the starry sky at the newly-renovated Amphitheatre at Spier Wine Farm in Stellenbosch.
The inaugural one-day Jazz & Classical Encounters Festival at Spier will see the best original, recently composed pieces from these two genres performed by young and established musicians from South Africa and beyond. The festival also showcases student talents from UCT Jazz Department and Stellenbosch University Classical Department on a separate, smaller stage.
FESTIVAL PROGRAMME
Jazz
- Skyjack: A collaborative band of five jazz musicians split across SA, the USA and Switzerland, with each contributing to the group as a composer and musician. The result is a wide palette of sound drawn from various cultural influences including African and European, concentrated into a modern jazz aesthetic. The three SA musicians are all well-known winners of the Standard Bank Young Artist Award: Shane Cooper (double bass), Kyle Shepherd (piano) and Kesivan Naidoo (drums), now based in New York. The Swiss musicians are Marc Stucki (tenor saxophone) and Andreas Tschopp (trombone).
- Buddy Wells Quartet: Based in Cape Town, the South African Saxophonist, composer and arranger Buddy Wells has performed and recorded with many well-known South African and international music legends. His quartet features Reza Khota (guitar), Nicholas Williams (bass) and Jono Sweetman (drums).
- Mandla Mlangeni’s Tune Recreation Committee (TRC): An ensemble committed to building a musical bridge between the past, present and future, the TRC is a playground for the interrogation, assimilation and extended extemporization from the canon of South African jazz heritage. It takes original tunes and fuses them with influences from other, imported genres – including vibrant underground music scenes such as drum and bass and Balkanology. Features Clement Benny (drums), Nicholas William (bass), Reza Khota (guitar) and Mandla Mlangeni (trumpet) with multi-instrumentalist Mark Fransman joining as special guest.
Classical
- The Night Light Collective ft. Waldo Alexander (violin) and Jill Richards (piano): Featuring strings, vocals, electronics and a range of Southern African instruments, this ensemble of performers and composers focuses on writing and playing new music – freely experimenting with genre, instrumentation and performance spaces to create a new platform for art and noise music that is bound to stretch audience’s ears.
- Ensemble Je Ne Comprends Pas is an ensemble created and conducted by Jan Hendrik Harley and dedicated to dedicated to performing interdisciplinary conceptual programs, featuring anything from early music to modern classical music repertoire performed with informed interpretations. They perform on a variety of period and ethnic instruments in addition to more conventional classical instruments. Their collaborators hail from all walks of life, but all have extensive professional training in their own field; most are multi-instrumentalists. The ensemble often plays reimagined works of both contemporary and classical masters.
- Music for Ensemble: An eclectic programme of works penned by the Stellenbosch-based composer Jan-Hendrik Harley. The diversity in styles is matched by the instrumentation, which includes flute, clarinet, trumpet, french horn, trombone, percussion, piano, violin, viola, violoncello and double bass. Of the five works performed, four will enjoy a world premiere. Jan Hendrik Harley holds a Master’s degree in chamber music with a composition portfolio from the University of Stellenbosch, and a Master’s degree in viola performance with early music as related field from the University of North Texas.
Venues
Main Stage, Spier Amphitheatre: 14:00 – 23:00.
Youth Stage: 13:45 – 21:30.
Tickets
R322: Early bird tickets (purchase before 15 September 2018)
R430: Adults
R215: Under 12s and students (card to be presented on the day)
Tickets are non-refundable. Groups larger than 12 receive a 25% discount on the full price.
