Unisa online - 4th Unisa National Piano Competition semi-finalists announced

The competitors for the semi-final (third) round, from left: Jean-Pierre Calitz (26), Pieter Crathorne (25), Willem de Beer (19), Jan Hugo (20), Jannie le Roux (25), Megan-Geoffrey Prins (21) & Olga Rademan (23)

Seven young pianists, four from the Western Cape and three from Pretoria, have been chosen as semi-finalists of the 4th Unisa National Piano Competition.

This event is hosted to give young musicians experience with the requirements and procedures of an international piano competition. The hope is that the preparation for and participation in this event will toughen competitors for possible participation in the 12th Unisa International Piano Competition in 2012. The competition consists of four rounds and the first elimination takes place after the second round. After the third round, three finalists are chosen who will perform a piano concerto with the Unisa Music Foundation Symphony Orchestra.

The Unisa Music Foundation Symphony Orchestra consists of professional musicians and students from Pretoria, Hammanskraal, Soshanguve, Ga-Rankuwa and Mamelodi. Since 1998, when the Unisa Music Foundation became involved in community music development, many success stories have emerged from these community projects where the learners are introduced to instruments ranging from the recorder to all the string instruments, woodwinds, brass and keyboard. It became clear that the young instrumentalists need an opportunity to gain experience as orchestral cadets in a symphony concert.

A sponsorship from the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund has provided funding for three successful concerts presented in the Z K Matthews since 2010. Their participation in the final round of the prestigious Unisa National Piano Competition will be quite a different experience for the students. Intense sectional rehearsals have been guided by professional players, lifting the students to the next level of excellence as they have focused on the technical and musical demands of the scores.

The rehearsals, under Maestro Alexander Rahbari, are going very well and the concert on Saturday night promises to be an event not to be missed! Tickets for the final round are available at Computicket.