Time for the Wakkerstroom Festival

FOR THE fourth year in a row, the hills around the little village of Wakkerstroom north-west of Vryheid will come alive to the sound of classical music, during the Wakkerstroom Music Festival, which will take place on March 21 – 23. This year the main emphasis of the festival is up and coming as well as established artists, with the likes of composers Keith Moss, Pieter Bezuidenhout, Franco Prinsloo and musicians like saxophonist Braam de Villiers, pianist Misha Meyer, soprano Melissa Gerber and violinist Wilmien Janse van Rensburg. The festival programme offers a wide variety, guaranteed to satisfy the most discerning classical music lover’s demands. Ranging from a performance by the Vivace Guitar Duo performing music by Spanish and South American composers to the Themba Trust Choir, under the baton of Sipho Khumalo, performing traditional African melodies. A jazz concert by the Classic Jazz Masters promises to lightly entertain audiences, whereas “adaptations” of popular operas such as Carmen (Bizet), La Cenerentola (Rossini) and La Traviata (Verdi) performed by Helen Vosloo (flute) and Ilse Myburgh (piano) will delight the more classically inclined. The Wakkerstroom Music Festival is a fully registered non-profit organisation, and raises funds annually for bursaries for promising music students, enabling them to further their studies in their chosen field. The detailed program of concerts and further details of the festival and accommodation options are available on the websites www.wmfestival.co.za or www.wakkerstroom.co.za Booking for the concerts is available online, or tickets can be booked in the village at the booking and information offices during the festival.