TAKING place from 4 to 13 July at the US Konservatorium, Stellenbosch, the much-anticipated programme for SICMF 2025 is now available. Concerts, masterclasses and more, form part of the 20th milestone of one of the world`s most prestigious annual classical music gatherings. A special alumni orchestra has been constituted to perform a once off pre-SICMF concert on Thursday, 3 July.
The SICMF Alumni Symphony Orchestra will comprise past participants from its inception to the present. The programme will include Mahler’s gargantuan and stirring fifth symphony, a new work by Matthijs van Dijk, and Gershwin’s Concerto in F. The young up-and-coming internationally lauded South African conductor, Jacobus de Jager, will be the conductor and the concertmaster will be Ian Watson, a participant of the first SICMF held in 2004.
The SICMF faculty concerts will begin on Friday, 4 July with reimagined Baroque – Max Richter’s ingenious reworking of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons featuring as soloist, the incomparable magician of the violin, Daniel Rowland.
The featured composer this year is the internationally acclaimed New York based jazz pianist, Kevin Harris, whose specially commissioned work Resonance will receive its world premiere on Tuesday, 8 July. It is a “contemporary symphonic reflection through the courageous lens of Steve Biko” and based on the written black consciousness works of anti-Apartheid activist Steven Biko.
While the SICMF faculty perform masterpieces every evening for the duration of the festival, they are hard at work from the early hours of each morning, rehearsing, coaching, giving public master classes and engaging with the 300+ student participants. The SICMF will conclude with four orchestral concerts, three of which will take place in the Endler Hall and one of which will take place in the community hall in Kayamandi.
The full list of SICMF faculty artists can be found here. Click here for full programme and more information. Tickets at Webtickets.
