Media Release
Mozart & Tchaikovsky Symphony Concert
Soloists: Bridget Rennie (flute) & Gaylen Sales (harp)
Date: Thursday, 2 March 2017
Venue: Kopanong Auditorium (Kovsie Kerk)
Time: 19:30
British conductor Tim Murray will be on the podium for the Free State Symphony Orchestra’s (FSSO) first concert for 2017. The first half of the programme will consist of music by Mozart: the Symphony No. 23 in D major K. 181, composed when he was only 17 followed by the ever popular Concerto for Flute and Harp, K.299 with Bridget Rennie-Salonen (flute) and Gaylen Sales (harp) as the soloists. Tchaikovsky’s majestic Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64 will be the only work after the interval.
The concert, which is made possible by a grant from the National Lotteries Commission (NLC) and “Music for Medics ” as part of the Symphony for Life initiative, is at 19:30 on Thursday 2 March in the Kopanong Auditorium (previously known as Kovsie Kerk) at the corner of Nelson Mandela Drive and DF Malherbe Ave.
Tim Murray was appointed in 2015 as Associate Music Director of Cape Town Opera. He first conducted Cape Town Opera on their UK tour in 2012, and has since led the company in performances of Porgy and Bess at the Artscape Theatre Cape Town, Opéra National de Bordeaux, and Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona.
Elsewhere he has a strong relationship with the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, where he is known as a champion of 20th and 21st-century works, including Barry’s The Importance of Being Earnest and the premiere of Charlotte Bray’s Out of the Ruins. His debut at the Gran Teatre del Liceu was in 2013 with a production of Street Scene, which he also conducted at the Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris. He most recently conducted The Merry Widow (Cape Town Opera) and Porgy and Bess at the Teatro Real, Madrid, where he returns in 2018 for a new production. Additional projects at the Linbury Studio, Covent Garden include The Crackle (with Bryn Terfel), The Enchanted Pig, The Gentle Giant and The Doctor’s Tale.
Other contemporary opera projects include The Freedom Game (Royal Albert Hall), Twice through the Heart (Sadler's Wells), The Sleeper (Welsh National Youth Opera), Hogarth's Stages (Royal College of Music), Babur in London (The Opera Group), Fantastic Mr Fox (Opera Holland Park) and The Silent Twins (Almeida Opera). As former Music Director of Tête à Tête Festival in London, he conducted 22 world premieres.
His concert work has included BBC Proms (with the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group), Philharmonia Orchestra, Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra (works by
Stravinsky and Ligeti), Chroma (including works by Jonathan Harvey), National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Festival of English Music at the Ghent Conservatorium, London Philharmonic Orchestra assisting Vladimir Jurowski and BBC Singers.
Capetonian Bridget Rennie-Salonen is active as a solo, chamber and principal orchestral flautist and has appeared as soloist with several South African orchestras. Her studies at UCT and abroad equipped her with multiple qualifications and honours. As the former Solo Principal Flute of the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, she was the recipient of the prestigious Ben & Faye Carklin Award for Artistic Excellence. She collaborates with musicians such as James Grace, Albie van Schalkwyk, Gaylen-Rose Sales, Catherine Foxcroft, Jose Dias, Erik Dippenaar and Peter Martens, amongst others. As a member of ‘Trio with a Twist’ with Janine Neethling and Lizzie Rennie, she was the recipient of the Fiesta award for Best Classical Production at festivals in 2012, as well as a Silver Ovation award at the National Arts Festival 2014. Bridget is active as a freelance flautist, is the principal flute of the Cape Town Pops Orchestra, guest principal flute with the Free State Symphony Orchestra and plays the Baroque flute with the Camerata Tinta Barocca. She displays astounding musical versatility in any music genre and her exquisite flute playing has been recorded for numerous soundtracks, such as the shows “Cats” and “Tree Aan”, and the film scores for ‘Material’, ‘Faith Like Potatoes’, ‘Ocean Voyager’, ‘Cosmic Africa’ and ‘City Slickers’. Bridget lectures at the South African College of Music at the University of Cape Town. Many of her students have excelled in national competitions and in their overseas studies, and now teach and perform locally, several occupying positions in South African orchestras. As one of South Africa’s leading exponents of the flute, she is frequently invited to act as adjudicator or external examiner. With a research interest in performing arts health, she is a licensed Andover Educator and is currently pursuing PhD research in the area of tertiary level musicians’ performance health education.
Harpist Gaylen-Rose Sales was born in Pretoria and started piano lessons at the age of six and harp lessons at the age of ten with Moya Wright and later with Rosalind Dunbar. She matriculated at the Pro Arte High School and later obtained a B Mus degree in Performing Arts at the University of the Witwatersrand. She has performed as soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra, Pro-Musica Orchestra, Transvaal Philharmonic Orchestra and more recently with the Johannesburg Festival Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra of South Africa. As an orchestral player, she has made appearances with NAPAC, PACOFS, NSO, toured South America with the Junior SABC orchestra, joined a Greek choir at the Athens Music Festival as the harpist, and played at the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival. In 1993 she joined the Transvaal Philharmonic Orchestra (later known as The New Arts Philharmonic Orchestra of Pretoria) as Principal Harpist until its closure. Amongst her varied solo and chamber performing, she currently serves as Principal Harpist for the Johannesburg Festival Orchestra and appears regularly with flautist Bridget Rennie-Salonen as the Gabriel Duo.
Admission:
R150 (adults)
Students, on presentation of valid card: R50.00
UFS Staff, on presentation of valid card: R100.00
Pensioners, on presentation of valid card: R100.00
Children (6 to 18 years): R50.00
Block bookings of 10 or more: R100.00
Tickets for the concert are available at Computicket outlets (Checkers, Shoprite shops) or book online at www.computicket.com
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| Tim Murray (Conductor) |
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| Bridget Rennie (Flute) and Gaylen Sales (Harp) |
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