It was supposed to have been a farewell concert but, it seems, that magical flute will be right here in Potchefstroom for a while yet.
Be that as it may, any excuse for a concert is a good one for the Potchefstroom Ensemble Symphony. So, at 18:30 on 2 June, these acclaimed musicians did what they do best in the Musikland Theatre to wish George Fazakas well as he plans his departure.
The new theatre on the premises of Musikland has become a popular venue for chamber concerts and the like. The Journey Home concert was about the twelfth since it opened last year.
George Fazakas, or György Sándor Fazakas, as per his birth certificate, is something of a celebrity in Potchefstroom. Despite being an accomplished flutist, he has not restricted himself to professional performances over the years. He considers himself to be part and parcel of the community and, two years ago, he performed in Girls’ High’s Flying Free concert.
George was born in Hungary in 1955 and arrived in South Africa for the second time as a 9-year-old boy growing up in Pretoria. Because his father was a musician, it seemed only natural that George would follow in his footsteps. He started playing piano at the age of five.
‘I turned my attention towards the flute at the age of 18, after hearing Jethro Tull/Ian Anderson’s flute solo,’ he says with a twinkle in his eye. ‘It was for all the wrong reasons, of course, Z in a way, I was rebelling against the classical music that I had grown up with.’
The age of 18 was a defining year for him in many ways. He started playing in several bands and orchestras and started studying flute. It was also then that he met his wife, Alex, and married her a year later. In 1975, George joined the Permanent Force as a member of the SA Army Band and later started playing in Johannesburg as a flutist.
When the PU for CHE advertised a post as a music lecturer, he had probably never heard of Potchefstroom. He applied, however, and has been here ever since. He has been teaching the flute for the past 37 years and many of his students have gone on to make a name for themselves in this discipline.
The idea of leaving Potchefstroom never occurred to George and Alex until their son, Michael, who lives in British Columbia, Canada, with his family, suggested that they move there. While George has auditioned for a post in the Prince George Symphony Orchestra, which would probably come with a work permit, he has adopted a wait-and-see approach.