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Cape Philharmonic wows America

Cape Town – The Cape Philharmonic Orchestra is back in Cape Town after an eventful 23 day tour of America.

The group of 65 musicians looked exhausted as they arrived at Cape Town International Airport on Thursday. The group performed a total of 18 concerts during their short visit to 18 different cities including New York.

The group also visited cities in Florida, South Carolina, Wisconsin, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and Massachusetts.

The orchestra could choose between two programmes – each including a violin concerto and an overture. Every performance was concluded with Rimsky-Korsakov’s symphonic suite, Scheherazade.

Russian-born American Philippe Quint was the soloist for the violin concertos by Peter Tchaikovsky and Erich Wolfgang Korngold.

Bulgarian conductor Martin Panteleef travelled with the orchestra.

Demanding and rewarding

The Cape Philharmonic was invited to perform in the US by American company Artists Management Group. The company also sponsored the tour.

Mr Louis Heyneman, executive director of the orchestra said that he is pleased with the impression made by the tour.

"We were given standing ovations at almost every concert hall we played and the reviews from the American media were positive.

"A personal highlight was our performance at the Mechanics Hall in Worcester just outside of Boston. The acoustics there are incredible."

Mr Kristijan Chernef (38), principal cellist of the orchestra, described the experience as "well organised, wonderful and interesting".

Eugénie Bahlsen (24) the principal violinist said that although the tour was demanding, it was also very rewarding.

"The concerts went really well and all the reviews we read were positive."




 
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