Sponsored principally by Sandvik and the Beit Trust, it will feature more visiting performers than ever before. There will be four pianists including Leslie Howard, whose many claims to fame include an entry in the Guinness Book of Records for a feat unequalled by any solo artist in recording history, his 99-CD survey for Hyperion of the complete piano music of Franz Liszt.
The other pianists are Zimbabwe-born Michael Brownlee Walker, Coady Green and Elizabeth French and they will be playing in various combinations including several works for four pianists and even some for four pianos.
Visitors from South Africa include the Odeion String Quartet and guitarist James Grace as well as the double bass virtuoso Leon Bosch who was born in Cape Town but left South Africa in the apartheid years and settled in Britain. Trevor Lax is a trumpeter who will be conducting workshops for wind players as well as performing, as will James Grace, and, in a first for the festival, there will also be musical light entertainment by Kit and the Widow, a comedy duo who have performed in some of the top venues all over the world. In addition, one of the duo, Richard Sisson, has written The Mukamba Tree, a half-hour work based on a book by the local author June Farquhar which will involve upwards of 200 young performers as well as all the visiting musicians.
The line-up is completed by Petroc Trelawny, very well known in Britain as a BBC Radio 3 announcer and producer. He will be interviewing all the performers during the festival and acting as narrator for The Mukamba Tree as well as researching the 1953 Bulawayo Rhodes Centenary Festival for a projected radio programme and possible book.
Whenever there isnt a concert in the Sibson Hall, there will be music in the grounds, often two events with performances in a large marquee plus workshops, etc. in a second venue. The entertainment lined up for the grounds includes Liyana with Prudence Mabhena, Drums of Peace, the Peterhouse Orchestra, the Girls College marimba band, gospel choirs, pop bands, jazz and more.
Further information from zam@gatorzw.co.uk or music@gatorzw.co.uk.
Post published in: Music