WINDHOEK- One of the biggest orchestra performances in the local entertainment calendar will take place this weekend when the College of the Arts (COTA) presents its ninth Bank Windhoek Baroque Concerto Festival at the Windhoek Dutch Reformed Church.
The concert, which will take place on Friday and Saturday, gives a number of soloists the chance to perform a Baroque piece with the accompaniment of a Baroque Ensemble (small orchestra).
The initiative is brought by the Namibian National Symphony Orchestra (NNSO) in conjunction with COTA.
The festival is a celebration of music from the 17th and 18th centuries mainly sponsored by Bank Windhoek. The event will stage a variety of soloists, who were selected through an audition to perform with the accompaniment of NNSO.
“To support young musicians, the first half of the concert will be performed by Namibian artists and young students from COTA accompanied by NNSO,” said one of NNSO’s Board of Directors, Irmgard Rannersmann.
The audience can look forward to mesmerising performances from vocalists such as Janice van Rooy, Emily Dangwa, Lyvodia Ouses, Elfrida Chipeio, Nythan Dien and Gallilei Njembo. Instrumental work by Georg Telemann, a German Baroque composer and multi-instrumentalist, classical pieces from masters of classical music Handel and Vivaldi, will be performed by Diana Zilberstein on organ, Carissa Esslinger on the recorder, and Nadja Roxin and Hans-Peter Drobisch on flute.
“Conducted by Fanie Dorfling and Jürgen Kriess, the highlights of the concert will be Antonio Vivaldi’s Magnificat hymn performed by the COTA Youth Choir along with NNSO and Nicole d’Oliveira performing Bach’s Double Violin Concerto. Alexander Fokkens will also be one of the conductors at the festival,” said Rannersmann.
In support of NNSO’s outreach programme to bring music to everyone in Namibia, concert-goers are requested to bring along an Easter egg, which will be collected at the entrance.
“Soon after the concert, members of the orchestra will distribute these eggs to a community close to Windhoek and, at the same time, introduce them to the music we love to play,” said Rannersmann.
The performances will start at 19h00.
Bank Windhoek’s Co-coordinator of Event and Sponsorships, Suzette January, said: “As a responsible corporate citizen, initiatives such as the Baroque Festival align with our commitment of adding value to the communities where the bank is active. We encourage everyone to support the artists, especially the youth this coming weekend.”
The tickets are available at Hotel Uhland, 147 Dr Kenneth David Kaunda Street, at Pick ‘n Pay or online at Webtickets Namibia. For more information, visit the NNSO’s website at www.nnso.info.