The National Grahamstown Music Competition 2014 was hosted by Rhodes University Department of Music and Musicology from 18 – 21 June 2014. The competition opened with an exciting concert by two previous competition prize winners, Paul Richard (saxophone) and Christo Greyling (piano). The concert was sponsored by the Grahamstown Music Society, who hosted and organised the competition from 2009 to 2013. The competition was open to participants at Junior, Senior, and Tertiary level. Thirty competitors performed two pieces in both the first round (19 June) and the second round (20 June) before the semi-finalists were announced on June 20. Six semi-finalists in each category participated in the semi-final round on Saturday 21 June, and three finalists in each category performed in the final concert on Saturday evening (21 June). The competition was adjudicated by Mr John Roos and Dr Mareli Stolp.
The following prizes were awarded:
Junior category: 1st prize Ah-Young Moon (piano, Stellenbosch), 2nd prize Beate Boshoff (piano, Bethlehem), 3rd prize Ga-Young Moon (piano, Stellenbosch).
Secondary category: 1st prize Annerike du Plessis (piano, Stellenbosch), 2nd prize Mieke Struwig (clarinet, Port Elizabeth), 3rd prize Swunhtat Oo (piano, Harrismith).
Tertiary category: 1st prize Tatiana Thaele (flute, Cape Town), 2nd prize Andrew Duncan (piano, Cape Town), 3rd prize Christiaan Uys (clarinet, Port Elizabeth).
Four additional prizes were awarded:
Best entrant from Grahamstown: Emily Morgan (piano)
Best string performer: Inge Lubbe (viola, Pretoria)
Best performance of a South African composition: Beate Boshoff (piano, Bethlehem)
Best woodwind performer: Tatiana Thaele (flute, Cape Town)
The prizes were generously sponsored by the Grahamstown Music Society, Port Elizabeth Music Society, Lee Gold Music, Advocate Torquil Paterson, Mr Tim Huisamen, Mrs Celia Jameson, an anonymous donor, 18th on Henry Bed and Breakfast, and Rhodes University Department of Music and Musicology.
The National Grahamstown Music Competition 2015 will be organised and hosted by Rhodes University Department of Music and Musicology in June 2015. More details will be available on the Music Department’s website from December 2014.
Organiser
Dr Catherine Foxcroft