Unisa online - Florian Uhlig and Zoe Beyers pay tribute to Mendelssohn

Florian Uhlig and Zoë Beyers pay tribute to Mendelssohn One of Unisa's exquisite
Steinway concert grand pianos

Unisa's Music Foundation presented its first concert in the newly renovated Unisa Conference Hall on the Sunnyside campus on Sunday 8 February 2009.

The winner (violin) of the First Unisa National String Competition 2001, Zoë Beyers, performed a programme commemorating the 200th celebration of the famous German composer, Felix Mendelssohn’s birth in 1809. Zoë was only 17 when she won this prestigious competition at Unisa.

On Sunday, her technical and musical maturity were evident as she evoked a wide range of delicate tone colours from her 17th century Italian violin in the acclaimed acoustics of this historic venue. She and her duo partner, German-born pianist, Florian Uhlig, paid fitting tribute to Mendelssohn by performing a moving performance of his Sonata for violin and piano in F major. Uhlig also played several popular solo piano works by Mendelssohn on the concert grand Steinway in this hall. Works by Mozart were also included in the programme.

Unisa boasts three concert grand Steinway pianos (model D), two of which are housed in the ZK Matthews Great Hall. Uhlig played on the Steinway which Unisa acquired 36 years ago. He was full of praise for the good condition of this piano’s action and tone quality --- a reflection of the good care Unisa takes of its music instruments.

Unisa also has three model B Steinway grand pianos in examination studios, as well as a baby grand Steinway. Steinway pianos are by far the most preferred instrument in concert halls worldwide.