Mozart’s Messiah and Improv Jazz for JIMF

Last edited: January 23, 2012

Posted by Business and Arts South Africa

The 4th Johannesburg International Mozart Festival (JIMF) will take place from 27 January to 19 February 2012 in Johannesburg.

Since 2010, the incorporation of a Festival theme has informed dynamic intersections, and the 2012 theme, "Quasi Improvisando", promises interesting contributions from diverse backgrounds.

This year’s line-up will feature two full choral concerts. On Sunday 29 January in the Linder Auditorium, Richard Cock will be conducting the Johannesburg Festival Orchestra in concert with the Chanticleer Singers and the Chamber Choir of South Africa. They will be performing Handel’s epic Messiah in a version orchestrated by Mozart. This concert will start at 15h00. On Tuesday 31 January the choral concert will include an element of jazz improvisation, with the Chanticleer Singers joined by saxophonist Shannon Mowday, also conducted by Richard Cock. The programme will include works by Duruflé, Tallis, Kraak, Delius and Mozart. This concert will be at St. Mary’s School, Waverley at 19h30.

In keeping with the focuses on jazz and improvisation, this year’s Composer-in-Residence jazz pianist Paul Hanmer and Festival Artistic Director Florian Uhlig share the stage in a concert for school children at Parktown School for Girls on Friday 3 February at 8am. The appropriately-chosen programme includes works by Mozart and their own improvisation. These elements also feature as ‘Folk meets Bach and Mozart’ in “Alpine Inspirations”, with Austrian trombone duo Christian Radovan and Alois Eberl playing their own compositions and improvisations on works by Bach and Mozart, on Monday 6 February at 19h30, at Villa Arcadia.

Workshops and masterclasses are increasingly an important platform of the JIMF. The Melodi Music project held as part of the Festival in previous years will run again. Two week-long masterclasses will be on offer – one for organists and one for South African vocal talents focussed on development of singing technique, style and interpretation. Presented in conjunction with UNISA Pretoria, it will be led by Prof Josef Protschka, who brings his experience of an international career as an opera and lieder singer, as a renowned pedagogue, and as Director of the Music Conservatoire in Cologne, Germany.

Some exciting late additions have been made to the programme. A collaborative improvisation at the UJ Theatre on Monday 30 January at 19h30 features the talents of Grammy-nominated pianist Jill Richards and sound artist João Orecchia, in a programme of electro-acoustic new music. “This performance will illustrate an interesting facet of improvisation, unlike any other featured at the Festival”, says Uhlig of the internationally known Johannesburg-based duo. The World Doctors Orchestra directed by Stefan Willich, will perform Peter Klatzow’s “The Healing Melody”, Allan Stephenson’s “Concertino Pastorale for Clarinet and Orchestra” and Franz Schubert’s “Symphony No. 8 in C Major”. This Symphony Concert takes place on Sunday 12 February at 18h00 in the Linder Auditorium, with the multi-award winning Maria du Toit on clarinet.

Tickets for concerts at the Linder Auditorium and the UJ Theatre will be available on Computicket, and for the rest of the concerts please contact 011 447 9264. For more information please visit www.join-mozart-festival.org and like the Johannesburg International Mozart Festival page on Facebook for regular updates on Festival happenings and competitions.

About the JIMF

Originally organized in 2006 in commemoration of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s 250th birthday anniversary, the Johannesburg International Mozart Festival has developed into a highly successful and well-loved annual classical music event, with popular conductor Richard Cock at the helm as Music Director, together with concert pianist Florian Uhlig as Artistic Director.

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Johannesburg International Mozart Festival