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2015

22 April – 29 May

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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.

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