Talks and Broadcasts
Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra
Since 2018, I have shared the pre-concert talks for the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra's symphony concerts with Rodney Trudgeon. Open to ticket-holders, these talks take place at 19h15 in the Sunken Lounge of the Cape Town City Hall. The subsequent performance is typically broadcast live on Fine Music Radio. In 2019, our team won "Best Night-Time Show" at the Liberty Radio Awards for these live broadcasts.
Fine Music Radio
Since 2006, I have compiled and presented programmes on local classical and jazz radio station, Fine Music Radio, as a volunteer. These have included:
Fine Music Radio broadcasts on 101.3 FM in Cape Town, 107.9 FM in Fish Hoek and Noordhoek, 94.7 FM in Hout Bay and Llandudno, 97.1 FM on the Atlantic Seaboard, DStv Audio Channel 838 and worldwide on www.fmr.co.za.
Since 2018, I have shared the pre-concert talks for the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra's symphony concerts with Rodney Trudgeon. Open to ticket-holders, these talks take place at 19h15 in the Sunken Lounge of the Cape Town City Hall. The subsequent performance is typically broadcast live on Fine Music Radio. In 2019, our team won "Best Night-Time Show" at the Liberty Radio Awards for these live broadcasts.
Fine Music Radio
Since 2006, I have compiled and presented programmes on local classical and jazz radio station, Fine Music Radio, as a volunteer. These have included:
- Composer of the Week on Monday evenings (Alexander Borodin, Arvo Pärt, Sir John Tavener, Leonard Bernstein, John Joubert, Claudio Monteverdi, etc.)
- Great Interpreters on Friday evenings (André Previn, Angela Hewitt, Sir Stephen Cleobury, Jonas Kaufmann, Steven Isserlis, Stephen Layton, Dame Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, The King's Singers, etc.)
- "The Musical Art of Theme Parks" with Kyle Paulssen (2019, 2015, 2013)
- A thirteen-part series entitled "The Organ: A Whistle-Stop Tour" (2009) in collaboration with the Cape Organ Guild
Fine Music Radio broadcasts on 101.3 FM in Cape Town, 107.9 FM in Fish Hoek and Noordhoek, 94.7 FM in Hout Bay and Llandudno, 97.1 FM on the Atlantic Seaboard, DStv Audio Channel 838 and worldwide on www.fmr.co.za.
Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival
In July 2019, I was invited to present the live broadcasts of the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival (SICMF) which are now available via its YouTube channel. I also kept a daily blog that mainly reviewed the previous night's faculty concerts:
Day 10: 2019 SICMF concludes with a perfect cadence / Day 9: Nationalist vigour and Romantic charm / Day 8: Back to the future: Van Dijk, Schnittke and Saint-Saëns / Day 7: Chamber music à la carte / Day 6: Sunshine and nostalgia for winds and strings / Day 5: From the New World and the Old / Day 4: Finding a new way forward / Day 3: French flair and Russian passion / Day 2: Mendelssohn and Rimsky-Korsakov warm hearts on a winter's night / Day 1: "It's like Christmas in July!"
Other presentations
In November 2018, I participated in WWl Centenary: A Poetry and Musical Tribute at the UCT Irma Stern Museum in which I presented recordings of music by 20th-century composers who were profoundly affected by the First World War such as Aaron Copland, George Butterworth, John Adams and Sir Edward Elgar.