A composition based on a letter written in prison by Irish writer Oscar Wilde will be among the less commonly heard works in Thursday 2 October's concert by Grahamstown pianist Mareli Stolp.
In addition to the avant garde composition 'De Profundis' by Fredric Rzewski, for a speaking pianist, Stolp, who has been a lecturer in the Department of Music and Musicology since July 2012 and has recently completed a PhD specialising in contemporary music, will also perform works by George Crumb, Karen Tanaka and Leos Janacek.
De Profundis (Latin: "from the depths") is a letter written by Oscar Wilde during his prison term to Lord Alfred Douglas.
Stolp completed her Bachelor of Music (2002) and Master of Music (2006) degrees at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, as a student of Joseph Stanford. During this time, she received numerous prizes and awards, such as the Unisa South African Music Scholarship (1999), the Vladimir Viardo Prize (1999), and the Pretorium Trust Bursary (2002).
Between 2003 and 2006, she was a student at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, where she studied with Håkon Austbø. She completed a Bachelor of Music Degree at the Conservatory of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, in 2006, specialising in music of the 20th Century.
While in The Netherlands, she worked with numerous ensembles, such as the Ensemble voor Nieuwe Muziek, De Nieuwe Opera Akademie and the Orchestra of the Conservatory of Amsterdam, and performed widely in the Netherlands and Belgium. With her duo partner, Canadian cellist Sybil Shanahan, she formed the group Duo Afri-Can in 2008, and has performed in Italy, Switzerland and the Netherlands.
Mareli completed a PhD (Performance) at the University of Stellenbosch with Professor Stephanus Muller in 2012, and is currently employed as a fulltime lecturer by Rhodes University, Grahamstown.
The concert this Thursday at 7.30pm is in the Beethoven Room at the Department of Music and Musicology. Admission is R50 and R20 (concessions).
Source: Grocotts Mail