MEDIA RELEASE - Alexander Fokkens returns to the podium to conduct the FSSO in a performance of JS Bach’s Easter Oratorio!

Conductor: Alexander Fokkens

Soloists: Lynelle Kenned (soprano), Teresa de Wit (alto), Lance Phillip (tenor) & Thesele Kemane (bass)
Choir: Cathedral Singers
Date: Friday, 19 April 2019
Time: 18:00
Venue: The Anglican Cathedral of St Andrew and St Michael
Admission: Free

Easter is a very special time and this year the FSSO will commemorate the passion of Christ with a performance of JS Bach’s Easter Oratorio at the Anglican Cathedral on Good Friday. The Cathedral Singers, which comprises mainly of students and staff of the University of the Free State, will be accompanied by the FSSO conducted by Alexander Fokkens. The soloists are Lynelle Kenned (soprano), Teresa de Wit (alto), Lance Phillip (tenor) and Thesele Kemane (bass). The concert is free of charge and will commence at 6pm.

Actress Lynelle Kenned is a multi-talented opera singer, TV presenter, MC and a soprano of note that has graced the theatre stage in a number of musical productions. She is a star graduate of the UCT Opera School and a member of the award-winning South African Sopranos, and has been entertaining audiences for years. Her various soprano roles include works by Handel, Mozart, Puccini, Rossini, Janacek and her most recent productions being West Side Story, Heavenly Quartez with the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra and Calling Us Home.
Mezzo-soprano, Teresa de Wit, obtained her Unisa Performer's Licentiate in 2009. She began her opera training as fellow of the Cape Town Opera Studio and was affiliated with the Black Tie Ensemble in Pretoria. She has starred in numerous operas and operettas, including Carmen, La Traviata, The Barber of Seville, Le Nozze di Figaro, Cosi fan Tutte, Cavalleria Rusticana, Martha, Alcina, The Bartered Bride, Hänsel und Gretel, Madama Butterfly, Rigoletto, La Cenerentola, Die Fledermaus and the production Wiener Blut and has shared the stage with several renowned names. Teresa de Wit is no stranger to performing with the FSSO - her last appearance was in Lehar’s Merry Widow in conjunction with the Odeion School of Music directed by Cape Town Opera’s Christine Crouse.

Lance Phillip received his earliest musical training as a chorister at the St Thomas Choir School in New York from 1983-6, under Dr Gerre Hancock. He read Music at the University of Pretoria, and graduated BMus (Composition) in 1995, under Henk Temmingh. He is active as a tenor and conductor, and was Assistant Director of Music at Christ Church, Arcadia, under George King, from 1997–2009. He was also a member of Richard Cock’s Chanticleer Singers (2003–9), and directed ENSEMBLE 4BOURDON, an ad hoc vocal ensemble. He is a founding member and regular guest singer with the Cape Consort, a leading early music ensemble, as well as a guest conductor & singer with the Baroque2000 orchestra. Phillip holds a Master’s Degree in Choral Conducting from the University of the Free State.

Thesele Kemane is a graduate at the University of Cape Town and Juilliard School (New York), where he was a Kovner Fellow and was part of the opera studio of the Frankfurt Opera for the 2016/17 season. He previously participated in the Young Artist Program of the Glimmerglass Festival and was invited to the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia (Rome) and the Internationale Meistersinger Akademie (Germany). In Cape Town, the bass baritone performed in Le Nozze di Figaro, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, The Rakes Progress, Tales of Hoffmann, Don Giovanni, Viva la Mamma, Il Viaggio a Reims, Handel's Messiah and Haydn's Creation. He also debuted an acting role as The Stranger in Anna Seghers' production of The Seventh Cross with the Schauspiel (Frankfurt). He is currently a lecturer at the Odeion School of Music and most recent appearance was in the local adaptation of Lehar’s Merry Widow, alongside Runette Botha and Albertus Engelbrecht, where he played the role of Mirko Zeta.

The FSSO’s Easter Oratorio concert will take place at 6pm on Friday, 19 April at the Anglican Cathedral. This is the ideal Good Friday family outing that commemorates Jesus Christ's passion, and will leave your spirit souring.

This event is made possible through funding by the National Lotteries Commission.

For enquiries, contact the FSSO on 051 401 2342, or visit the FSSO’s Facebook page (@ Free State Symphony Orchestra) for more information on the concert and regular updates.