Jacobus de Jager, a Stellenbosch University student, was crowned the winner of the fifth South African Conductors’ Competition at the Hugo Lamprechts Music Centre in Parow last Sunday (7 August).
The competition, presented by the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO), also saw Jason Atherton, also a resident of Stellenbosch, and Reghardt Kühn on the podium. De Jager’s prize includes the opportunity to study with Maestro Arjan Tien in the Netherlands. Tien, who chaired the competition’s panel of jurors, gave master classes to all the candidates last October, and a second round of master classes to the six semi-finalists before the finals.
De Jager conducted the CPO in the overture to the “Magic Flute” and, with soloist Lance Thuynsma, the first movement of the “Clarinet Concerto”, both by Mozart.
Atherton conducted the overture to Beethoven’s “Coriolan” and, with soloist Isaac van der Merwe, the first movement of the “Piano Concerto no 20” by Mozart. Kühn conducted the overture to “Der Freischutz” by Weber and, with soloist Samantha Durrant, the “Mendelssohn Violin Concerto’s” first movement.
Louis Heyneman, CEO and artistic director of the CPO, said the competition is an important investment in the future of music. “We have such an abundance of musical talent in South Africa, but gaining experience in front of a professional symphony orchestra is difficult and expensive. Our contribution towards developing local conductors have been an important addition to transferring skills to young musicians.
The competition used to be called The Len van Zyl Conductors’ Competition and the awards were presented by Louis van Zyl, son of the indisposed founder, Len van Zyl.
