CPO honours Huberte Rupert with a memorial concert

The Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO) is presenting its 17th annual Huberte Rupert Memorial Concert at the Endler Hall in Stellenbosch, honouring the philanthropist by allowing a young South African musician living or studying abroad to return home and perform with the CPO.

The concert takes place on Friday, November 28, at 7.30pm

This year violist Eike Coetzee, who currently studies with Tabea Zimmermann at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Frankfurt am Main, will perform Hindemith’s Viola Concerto, Der Schawanendreher,  withLeon Bosch on the podium. 

The other works are Mendelssohn's The Hebrides Overture and Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony.

Mr Coetzee has won several competitions, most notably the silver medal at the National Youth Music Competition in 2021,  and is establishing himself in several ensembles in Munich in particular.

He said he was looking forward to performing this concerto, which is full of confident monologues, intense rhythmical passages, sweet melodies, and fast virtuosity. “The viola has to take on the role of a storyteller or wandering bard, who brings stories from far away: cheerful and serious songs, on which he fantasises. It is a special concerto with unique challenges. The orchestra creates a dark and earthy sound, built from low strings, woodwinds, and brass.  Demanding much power and endurance for the soloist, it was a groundbreaking composition for the viola‘s journey from a traditional chamber music and orchestra role to becoming a solo instrument.”

Mr Bosch, one of the world’s foremost double bass players, is one of the few double bass players to direct concertos from the instrument. 

In this case, he has moved to the podium as he establishes a career as a conductor. He studied in London with Sian Edwards and in St Petersburg with Alexander Polishchuk, and has conducted groups in the UK and around the world, including I Musicanti, the Liverpool Mozart Orchestra, the Wrexham Symphony Orchestra, the Icknield Ensemble, the Bombay Chamber Orchestra, and the University of Stellenbosch Camerata.

Tickets are available at Artscape Dial-A-Seat 021 421 7695 or Webtickets.