Franschhoek - Chamber music and art festival

Dates : 23 to 26 February 2023

Hours : Friday and Saturday, 10 am - 6 pm and Sunday, 10 am - 5 pm

Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk Fanschhoek
29 Huguenot Street
Franschhoek
7690
South Africa

For information regarding purchasing an artwork, contact Emrhys Stead.
Tel: +27 72 622 3479
email: emrhysstead99@gmail.com
Instagram: @emrhyssstead

For the complete festival programme and more information, contact info@fcmf.co.za or visit www.fcmf.co.za.

The second Franschhoek Chamber Music and Art Festival with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra musicians and international artists will take place from 23 – 26 February 2023. Tickets are on sale at Quicket from 1 December.

Following the success of the inaugural world-class festival in February this year, which proved to be a highlight of the town’s calendar, the organisers have increased the number of concerts from 10 to 11, including two global stars, the violinist Priya Mitchell and pianist Dirk Mommertz. Other local stars are pianists Esthea Kruger and Nina Schumann and singer Lynelle Kenned, as well as the CPO’s guest concertmasters Farida Bacharova and Suzanne Martens.

Nic Barrow, FCMF chairman and co-founder with his wife Ferda, says that the town, a drawcard for international visitors, embraced the festival, which also includes art exhibitions, so warmly that people were asking at the close of the first festival when the next would be held. Now we announce that it will become an annual festival, with an extensive programme, according to Barrow, a co-founder of the Klein Karoo National Arts Festival and Klein Karoo Klassique in Oudtshoorn.

The art exhibition displays various media and features guest artist Jan Vermeiren and contemporary artists Andrea-Desmond Smart, Henk Scholtz, Johannes du Plessis, Jacqueline Crewe-Brown, Kim Tracey, Abe Opperman, Jaco Sieberhagen, Andre Stead and Vuyisa Potina as well as a selection from Bridge House school students.

Highlights of the festival include the Trout Quintet by Schubert, Dvořák’s American Quartet, the Mendelssohn Octet, a Brahms Sextet, Erik Dippenaar and a Baroque concert, all the Bach cello suites, the Clarinet Concerto by Mozart with CPO principal clarinet Fèroll-Jon Davids and the CPO. The British violinist and international star Priya Mitchell will perform in Beethoven violin concertos in versions for strings and kettledrums, as well as an understanding of Arvo Pärt's creative silence (concert 9 of the programme).

All the performances will be in the Dutch Reformed Church, with its fine acoustics for chamber music. The church is located in the centre of the town, with ample shaded parking nearby.

Barrow says the festival and concerts are specifically scheduled to give concertgoers enough time between performances to visit the town, restaurants, wine estates and many other attractions within walking distance. Refreshments and thirst quenchers will be available around the venue, with Le Petite Manoir selling picnic boxes, Roast serving coffee and the internationally acclaimed Le Lude estate's Méthode Cap Classique pampering concertgoers’ palate.

Louis Heyneman, CEO and Artistic Director of the CPO, says this festival will showcase the more intimate chamber music side of the musicians and proved such a winner earlier this year. Peter Martens, the CPO’s principal cello, musically curated the festival.

Tickets are R240 per person per concert.

The programme booklet will be distributed from the Franschhoek Tourism Office in mid-December.