PROGRAMME ORDER

1*NATIONAL ANTHEM

2*SYMPHONY 40, 1^st movement - Wolfgang Mozart

3*LOST/FOUND DANCE- Matthijs van Dijk

PAVITHRA THIRUMALAI violin 1

YIHE LIU violin 2

ANDREW WILLIAMS Guitar

GAONE MOETSE Flute

LAUREN AFRICA Flute

MALAVIKA SURESH, Alto Saxophone

4*CANTIQUE DE JEAN RACINE - Gabriel Fauré

Gaborone Music Society

5JESU JOY OF MAN’S DESIRING - J. S. Bach

Sedibeng Choral Society

Andy Batshogile, conductor

6*CHORAL FANTASY - L. Beethoven

Olga Merker, piano

Sedibeng Choral Society

Gaborone Music Society

INTERVAL

1*LOST/FOUND DANCE- Matthijs van Dijk

2FUNICULI, FUNICULA

Sedibeng Choral Society

Andy Batshogile, conductor

3*CREDO from Mass - Qinisela Sibisi

KTM Choir

Luka Disho, conductor

4*THSIBIROBI by K.T.Motsete

KTM Choir

Luka Disho, conductor

5DEH VIENI (Con Giovanni) - Wolfgang Mozart

Kago Regoeng, baritone

6EBBEN (La Wally) - Alfredo Catalani

Tshenolo Segokgo, soprano

7QUESTO QUELLA (Rigoletto) - Guiseppe Verdi

The Three Tswana Tenors

8YOU NEVER WALK ALONE (Carousel) - Rodgers & Hammerstein

The Three Tswana Tenors

9CHE GELIDA MANINA, MI CHIAMAMO MIMI (La Boheme) - G. Pucinni

Tshenolo Segokgo & Boyce Batlang

Directed by Ayanda Kala

The Johannesburg Festival Orchestra

Conductor, David Slater

THE PERFORMERS

TSHENOLO SEGOKGO

Tshenolo started singing Opera and other classical music in 2004.  She has sung the leading soprano in The Pirates of Penzance and Mikado. Tshenolo is a popular singer at corporate events. She has studied in France with Francoise Pollet, Lorraine Nubar and at the Conservatoire de Bourg la Rein. She has had master classes with  Noelle Barker and Jacques-Greg  Belobo.

BOYCE BATLANG

Boyce was a member of the Gaborone Youth Singers and he and two other tenors formed the Three Tswana Tenors. Boyce’s fine tenor voice is also in demand as a solo singer as his repertoire includes the very popular and romantic opera arias. In 2009 he took part in the Voice of Black Opera Competition in the UK and, though not winning, was highly praised by the judges.

KAGO REGOENG

Kago’s fine baritone has been used in various choirs including the KTM Choir. He has sung in the BIFM-EU Festival Concert. In 2009 he had a solo role in The Okavango Macbeth opera by Alexander McCall Smith.

THE THREE TSWANA TENORS

The Three Tswana Tenors, Botswana’s most popular operatic group, are much in demand in concerts and corporate functions. These enthusiastic young men have done a considerable amount to foster the appreciation of operatic music among Batswana

THE LOST/FOUND DANCE

The composer, Matthijs van Dijk writes of his piece: ‘The title of The Lost/Found Dance comes from an experience I had whilst visiting New York City at the end of 2009. Whilst I was writing it, I went through periods of extreme homesickness and feeling rather “lost” - emotionally and just not being able to find my way home in a strange city. There was one evening in particular, whilst trying to find my way around the city late at night, that I discovered that I had been walking in the wrong direction

for around 30 minutes. I turned around to head back from where I came. But, after a few more minutes doubt began to set in. As the place I was looking for was near the Met Opera House, I saw a glimmer of hope when an elderly couple, clearly dressed as if they’d just been to see a show, approached me. Thinking, “If anyone will know where it is, it would be them…”, I smiled and began to ask for directions.  I only getting as far as saying, “Hi! Excuse me…” before the gentleman patted his pockets and said, very dismissively, “This is all I have.” and stormed off, leaving me on the side of the road, still lost, even more homesick and now insulted.

Although I can laugh about it now, at the time it threw me deeper in to a dark cloud of “I want to go home.”, making writing a piece based on African Music (in particular music from Botswana) very “bitter-sweet”, giving the piece a general feeling of a stranger walking through a busy city, never quite finding his bearings, but at least getting closer to his final destination.

THE SOLOISTS IN LOST/FOUND DANCE

The LOST/FOUND DANCE by Matthijs van Dijk was commissioned by the BIFM-EU Festival Concert to give an opportunity to the young instrumentalists in Gaborone to play with an orchestra. The piece is written for 6 young soloists accompanied by the full orchestra. There are also parts for students in the orchestra - a wonderful experience for young players! The young soloists are all members of the Maru a Pula School Orchestra and have been prepared for this performance by Celine Matthee, Head of Music at the School.

They six are:

PAVITHRA THIRUMALAI who plays violin 1. She has Grade 8 Violin and has been learning for 10 years.

YIHE LIU who plays violin 2. She passed Grade 8 with Distinction.

ANDREW WILLIAMS who plays the acoustic Guitar. He has been learning for 5 years and also plays the piano and marimba.

GAONE MOETSE who plays the Flute. She’s been learning for three years and had a masterclass with Wissam Boustany.

LAUREN AFRICA who also plays Flute. She’s been learning for nearly three years and also had a session with Wissam Boustany.

MALAVIKA SURESH who plays the alto saxophone. She’s been learning for six years and also plays piano, recorder and marimbas.

SEDIBENG CHORAL SOCIETY

Sedibeng Choral, under the directorship of Andy Batshogile, is performing for the third time in the BIFM Festival Concert. The choir sings both the Setswana and classical western repertoire. In their two years of existence they have sung John Rutter’s FEEL THE SPIRIT, Vivaldi’s GLORIA, Beethoven’s CHORAL SYMPHONY, Haydn’s CREATION, PIRATES OF PENZANCE. In 2009 they put on MADE IN BOTSWANA.

KTM CHOIR

Kgalemang Tumediso Motsete (KTM) Choir was founded in 1993. Along with Setswana music, the choir sings Classical western and contemporary choral music. Their concerts have included the Tswana repertoire, Mozart and Missa Luba. KTM has won the National Choir Competition andbeen part of the BIFM-EU Festival Concert. The choir has released three albums of choral music. The current conductor is Luka Disho.

GABORONE MUSIC SOCIETY

The Gaborone Music Society goes back to the early days of Botswana’s Independence. Over the years it has performed a remarkable range of choral works from Messiah to African Sanctus; Creation to Feel the Spirit. The society has endeavoured to help the development of choral music in Botswana by linking with local choirs in performances of the standard choral pieces.

ANDY BATSHOGILE

Andy is the founder and current conductor of Sedibeng Choral Society. His interest in music began in primary school where he sang in Britten’s Noah’s Fludde. He became actively and enthusiastically involved in choral music in the local community choirs.  He is a composer of choral music and brings to the traditional style a taste of jazz.

MATTHIJS VAN DIJK

Matthijs is from Cape Town and started composing when he was nine.  To date has written 6 string quartets, 2 piano trios, a violin sonata, a symphonic song-cycle, several orchestral overtures and numerous smaller chamber works. Many of piees have been played by well-known international groups like the Odeon String Quartet and the Sontonga Quartet. In 2005 Matthijs was nominated for a Kanna Award. In 2006 he orchestrated Phillip Miller’s score for the Philip Noyce film “Catch a Fire” and was also the recipient of the prestigious SAMRO Overseas Scholarship for Composition. Matthijs has a B-Mus in Composition at UCT.

DAVID SLATER

David Slater, although trained in Physics and Maths, has been a practising musician since he played the piano for his mother’s ballet studio as a child. He has been a choir and orchestral conductor. He came to Botswana in 1976 and has been actively involved in the music here, latterly becoming a vocal coach of Botswana’s aspirant opera singers.

OLGA MERKER

Olga started playing piano at the age of and finished at the Music High School with piano as her major subject. She studied piano at the University of Music in Belgrade. She has been a solo performer and also a member of chamber ensembles and accompanist. She made recordings for radio and TV Belgrade, receiving awards in piano competitions. Olga and her family moved to Botswana in 1998 where she has become a very sought-after piano teacher and accompanist.

THE JOHANNESBURG FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA

The Johannesburg Festival Orchestra made its debut in concert with Julian Lloyd-Webber in 1998. Its versatility means that it is called upon to play school concerts in Soweto, rehearse big outdoor ‘pops’ concerts, and prepare for visiting overseas artists such as Julian Lloyd Webber, Sarah Brightman, Luciano Pavarotti, The Three Tenors , Birmingham Royal Ballet, Vanessa-Mae, Dance Theatre of Harlem, IL Divo, Kanye West

The JFO is involved in TV broadcasts , annual concerts like the 702 Zoo Concert, Last Night of the Proms . The JFO is the Orchestra-in-Residence at the Johannesburg Civic Theatre. They have accompanied ballets, operas , including the William Kentridge production of Mozart’s Magic

Flute. The J.F.O. has been coming to Gaborone to play in these concerts for many years.

Botswana Insurance Fund Management (Bifm) has been involved with the Maitisong Festival since 2003. This ever-growing relationship has seen a number of budding artists grow from strength to strength. Bifm has been involved in the grooming of upcoming artists because they would like to see them breaking into the international music scene and believe that by putting the local artists on the stage with classical music artists from outside of the country, will give them the confidence and drive to push themselves to greater heights. Bifm has been involved with the arts, theatre, culture and music for many years and the need to get involved with the Maitisong Festival, which is the one of the only local arts festivals came about because it gives local artists a chance for more exposure and grooming. Furthermore Bifm has been a avid supporter of the Maitisong Hall for over three years, by assisting with donations to refurbish the hall.

The EUROPEAN UNION first sponsored the Festival Concert in 1987, their 30^th anniversary, and it featured the Beethoven 9^th Symphony, which is also the European Anthem.  In 2007, on the occasion of the 50^th Anniversary of the Treaties of Rome, the EU again joined BIFM as co-sponsors. The EU, together with the Ministry of Finance & Development Planning, is keen to assist in the development of local musical talent in Botswana and in the encouragement of the young through the specially commissioned work for young instrumentalists and orchestra. For this reason, the EU has become a regular sponsor alongside BIFM.