The Alma Chamber Orchestra will come to South Africa for the first time this week. Audiences will be treated to performances by classical music talent led by concertmaster and artistic director, Anne Gravoi. The show will feature the Brazilian pianist, Nelson Freire, under the direction of Lionel Bringuier.
Their World Tour for Unity will launch the European Union’s Europefest 2015 programme, which opens in May, to celebrate cultural diversity by presenting their cultural events under the banner “Let’s culture together”.
The visit will include a series of concerts from Wednesday, 22 to Saturday, 25 April and will feature the fifty-eight-member orchestra performing works by Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Wael Binali.
The Alma Chamber Orchestra began when Zouhir Boudemagh contacted Gravoin in December 2012. The businessman, with a passion for classical music, had lost his wife and wanted to honour her in a special and personal way. Given Gravoin’s classic music credentials, Boudemagh offered her the opportunity to assist him in forming an orchestra that spread messages of peace through their music. "Alma means soul and what matters is to bring musicians together who have beautiful souls,” says Boudemagh.
In a recent interview with Paris Match, Gravoin was quoted saying, "When we travel the world we don’t just say … hello we are French," but (rather) "hello we are musicians who have come to play for peace”. “I just find it beautiful that France is the first country to have created an orchestra for peace.”
The Alma Chamber Orchestra has just completed a tour through North Africa, Qatar and will be heading to China following their South African season. Concerts are in Johannesburg at the Linder Auditorium on Wednesday, 22 April; in Durban at the City Hall on Thursday, 23 April and a free concert with the Buskaid Soweto String Ensemble at the Regina Mundy church in Soweto on Saturday, 25 April.
During their brief stay the Alma Chamber Orchestra will host various workshops with young musicians to inspire and engage a new generation of musical talent and music lovers.
The Alma Chamber Orchestra will perform at Umlazi High School, one of the famous and oldest schools in Umlazi township. Umlazi High School is one of the few township schools that introduced music as a subject more than 10 years ago.
In addition, Gravoin will also be conducted for the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic’s National Cadetship Programme.
Founder of the Ichikowitz Family Foundation and sponsor of the South African tour, Ivor Ichikowitz says; “We are indeed privileged to host international musicians of such outstanding calibre in South Africa. We trust that our music loving public will enjoy this unique opportunity with us.”
All tickets, except for the concert at the Regina Mundi Church in Soweto (which is free) are available at www.computicket.com.
For more information, visit www.ichikowitzfoundation.com.