Violina Anguelov was born in Bulgaria. She obtained her Performer’s Diploma in Opera with distinction as well as Honours Degree in Singing (First Class) from the University of Cape Town under voice teacher Sarita Stern and the direction of Professor Angelo Gobbato. She has been awarded many prizes including the Adcock Ingram Music Prize, the Leonard Hall Memorial Prize, Erik Chisholm Prize, Best Principal Singer for Cape Town Opera and more.

Violina has a vast operatic and concert repertoire and has performed throughout South Africa and abroad. She has performed over 35 leading operatic roles in a multitude of highly acclaimed performances in South Africa, Germany, Bulgaria, Australia, Switzerland and Sweden. Her South African operatic début was as Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart with Cape Town Opera in 1999. She made her European operatic début as Dorabella in Cosi fan Tutte by Mozart, in Hanover, Germany, in 2000. Since then she has sung roles such as, just to mention but a few, Rosina in The Barber of Seville, Marguerite in Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust, Ruggiero in Alcina, Nerone in L’Incoronazione di Poppea, Hänsel in Hänsel and Gretel, Idamante in Idomeneo, Romeo in I Capuleti e I Montecchi by Bellini, Amnerisin Aida by Verdi, Mrs. Patrick De Rocher in Jake Heggie’s opera Dead Man Walking, Dinah in Trouble in Tahiti by Bernstein, Octavian in Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier, Queen Elizabeth in Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda and the title role in Bizet’s Carmen, a spectacular performance celebrated by both critics and public alike, performed in 2011 and 2016. Violina has had the immense privilege to share the stage with the world-renowned Bryn Terfel in a Gala Concert for Cape Town Opera and Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2013, Violina had the privilege of working with world-renowned conductor Sir Richard Bonynge in a concert version of Lucia di Lammermoor by Donizetti.

Apart from her vast repertoire of operatic roles, Violina has performed as a soloist with great success in many sacred works in and around South Africa. These have included all the major oratorio works by Mozart, Pergolesi, Vivaldi, Haydn, Handel, Elgar, Beethoven, JS Bach, Berlioz, Mendelssohn and Verdi amongst others.

Her lieder repertoire includes works by Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Britten, Debussy, Fauré, Duparc, Poulenc, Dvořak, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Mussorgsky, Glinka, Obradors and more.

Apart from her performing, Violina has an extensive teaching career, both privately and as a full-time Voice Lecturer at UCT College of Music.

Photo: Freya Photography

Farida Bacharova graduated from the Gnesin Musical Pedagogical College and later from the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory. At the age of 25, she became concertmaster of the ‘Maly’ Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra. She also performed with the USSR Ministry of Culture Symphony Orchestra, and the Moscow Academic Philharmonic Orchestra. She was the soloist for more than forty performances of ballets such as The Golden Age, The Nutcracker and Swan Lake in Tokyo’s Metropolitan Hall. As a solo recitalist in Moscow, Farida performed in the Chamber Hall, Rachmaninoff Hall and White Hall with internationally-acclaimed pianists.

During twelve years of experience performing in Russia and on international tours, Farida appeared as a soloist for ballets and as a symphonic soloist in many of the world’s major halls, including, among others, Fischer Hall and Carnegie Hall in New York, Champs d’Elysees in Paris, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Berlin’s Schauspiel Haus, Gewandhause in Leipzig, Tonhalle in Zurich as well as the Moscow Conservatory Main Hall and Tchaikovsky Hall, working with conductors such as Yehudi Menuhin, Vladimir Ashkenasy, Seiji Ozawa, Gennardi Rozdestvensky, Kurt Mazur, Eugene Svetlanov, Vladimir Ponkin, Bernhard Gueller, Yuri Temirkanov, Yuri Simonov and Dmitry Lazarev. A highlight of her orchestral career was a joint-concert with the New York Philharmonic, under the baton of Zubin Metha.

Farida moved to South Africa in 1995 and joined the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra. Today she is an Associate Professor at UCT’s South African College of Music, as head of Strings and Orchestral studies, as well as Guest Leader of the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra. Farida has appeared as soloist with the Cape Town Philharmonic orchestra and KwaZulu Natal Philharmonic Orchestra and was met with critical acclaim.

Works performed includes the Mendelssohn Concerto for Violin and Piano, Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, Mozart Synphonia Concertante and the world premiere of the David Earle Violin Concerto, String Quartets by Hendrick Hofmeyr, world premiere of the second sonata for Violin and Piano by Martin Watt. Farida regularly performs at major chamber festivals such as the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival, the Grahamstown National Arts Festival, the Klein Karoo Nationale Kunstefees, and the Greyton Genadendal Classics for All Festival. She was invited and performed a series of concerts at the Concervatoire National Superieur de Musique et de Dance de Paris. Farida has performed in the premieres of many contemporary compositions, closely working with South African composers and regularly collaborates with world renowned musicians such as Olga Kern and Francois du Toit, amongst many others.

As head of South African College of Music’s String Department, Farida has been fundamental in the promotion of the String Department across South Africa and abroad. Master classes arranged include such artists as Alexander Gilman, Max and Alexander Baillie, Maria Kliegel, Stephano Pagniani, Anna-Barbara Vogel and many more. Farida has arranged conductors in the international conducting circuit to work and conduct various symphony concerts.

Farida maintains an active schedule as a chamber musician around the country with various ensembles, more notably, with the Cape Chamber Music Collective. She is a regular coach and mentor for the South African National Youth Orchestra as well as the annual Franschhoek Chamber Music Workshop. Farida serves as a regular jury member for the National Youth Music Competition and the UNISA National String Competition.

Graham completed his Bachelor of Music (Hons) at the University of Birmingham. He then went on to study at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, where he completed his MMus specialising in cello performance (in 2007). He was the recipient of the Eifion Evans award for musical excellence and the winner of the Cardiff Violins chamber music competition. As a teenager he was also a runner-up in the BBC Proms Young Composer competition.

After his studies Graham enjoyed performing chamber music throughout Europe, giving recitals in the UK, Switzerland, Sweden, and in Ischia as a guest of Lady Walton (the late wife of the composer William Walton). He also worked with a variety of British orchestras including the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and various other symphony orchestras and chamber ensembles.

Graham has also appeared as a cellist in several mainstream films, recorded film and TV music for the likes of Universal, and he has performed and recorded music with a number of contemporary artists from a range of genres.

Since returning to South Africa in 2017, following many years overseas, Graham has enjoyed freelance work as a performer, both as a chamber and orchestral musician. He has also appeared as a soloist in several European countries. Graham teaches at the University of Cape Town. He is a director and founding member of the Cape Chamber Music Collective - an organisation that puts on diverse chamber programmes in the Western Cape.

Minette du Toit-Pearce began her vocal training under the tutelage of Dr Magdalena Oosthuizen at Stellenbosch University where she received the degrees BMus, BMus (Hons) and MMus (Cum Laude) specializing in vocal performance. She completed the UNISA Teacher’s and Performance Licentiates (both Cum Laude) and was awarded the DJ Roode Overseas Scholarship, as well as the Gertrude Buchanan and SAMRO prizes during the UNISA International Scholarship Competition. She was the overall winner of the ATKV Musiq competition as well as winner of the singing category and the Mozart prize. She was first runner up in the SAMRO International Singing Scholarship competition and won the prize for best performance of a prescribed work. She was a finalist in the Kohn Foundation Wigmore Hall International Song Competition in London and a finalist in the American Institute of Musical Studies’ (AIMS) Meistersinger Competition in Graz.

Minette regularly performs as a soloist in oratorios and recitals and is an accomplished singer of lieder both locally and abroad. She has performed with all major orchestras in South Africa, most notably the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra and the Johannesburg Festival Orchestra. She made her American debut as soloist in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Minnesota Orchestra in Minneapolis in 2018 and accompanied the orchestra on their South African tour as part of their “Mandela 100” celebrations.

Minette has performed at most of the major Arts Festivals around South Africa and has been nominated for three Kyknet Fiësta Awards and was the recipient of a WoordTROfee for “100 Jaar van die Afrikaanse Lied”.

Minette is an experienced adjudicator at Eisteddfods and singing competitions in South Africa but also travels outside of South Africa to Namibia, Mozambique and Zimbabwe to adjudicate, teach and perform. She is the head of the Singing Division at Stellenbosch University and holds the position of Senior Lecturer in Singing. She is currently working towards her PhD in music.

Photo: Antonia Steyn

As a permanent ensemble member at the Mainfrankentheater Würzburg, the lyric soprano Silke Evers impresses in a variety of leading roles in works ranging from W. A. Mozart and J. Strauss to Italian and French composers.

In addition, Silke Evers is particularly in demand in the field of contemporary music, which she has performed at major concert halls such as the Berliner Philharmonie, the Berliner Konzerthaus, the Kölner Philharmonie and the Tonhalle Zürich, as well as at the Salzburger Festspielen and the Berlin State Opera.

Her unusual lied programmes, which she performs in moderated lieder recitals and CD recordings, also enjoy great critical acclaim. In 2017, her new CD with Mignon settings "Sehnsucht nach Italien" was released.

In addition to her own singing, Silke Evers has many years of teaching experience as lecturer in Würzburg and Mainz.

Photo: Makoto Sudo

For the Osnabrück-born baritone Konstantin Ingenpaß, music has been the focus of his life since early childhood. His personal preference for lyricism as well as the artistic freedom and independence found in the interpretation of art song led during and after his studies to an intensive engagement with this genre. In October 2020 he was awarded the 1st prize in the Hugo Wolf Academy’s International Art Song Competition in Stuttgart.

As an art song interpreter, he has performed at festivals such as the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Schubertfest Dortmund, Heidelberger Frühling, the International Music Festival Koblenz, the Gustav Mahler Musikwochen Toblach, the Rheinvokal Festival and the Gargan International Music Festival Japan, and will perform this year at international festivals such as the Neues Lied Festival in Cape Town, South Africa and the Koriyama Canal International Music Festival, Japan.

As concert singer, Konstantin Ingenpaß has worked with the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester under Robin Ticciati, the Philharmonic State Orchestra Hamburg, the Ensemble Resonanz and the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn. Additionally, he sang the bass part at the Hamburg State Opera in a production with the Hamburg Ballet John Neumeier alongside Julian Prégardien.

Konstantin Ingenpaß’s opera appearances include performances at the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe in Weber's “Freischütz”, the title role in Puccini's "Gianni Schicchi," Count Almaviva in Mozart's in Mozart's "Le nozze di Figaro" and Prince Tarquinius in Britten's "Rape of Lucretia". In the coming year, he will appear as Morbio in "Die schweigsame Frau" by Richard Strauss in a new production by Mariame Clément at the Badisches Staatstheater.

2023 saw the release of his highly-acclaimed debut album "Welt & Traum" on the Hänssler Classic label, featuring songs by Wolf, Liszt, Ullmann and Mahler in chamber music arrangements. Konstantin Ingenpaß can also be heard performing Brahms folk songs on Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 of a complete recording of Brahms’ songs, released by Naxos. For the Rondeau label, he also collaborated on a complete recording of Fauré's sacred works.

Konstantin Ingenpaß began his professional vocal training as a young student with Prof. Gerhild Romberger at the Hochschule für Musik in Detmold. After completing his bachelor's degree, he went on to study a master’s in Liedgestaltung in the class of Prof. Manuel Lange and a Master in Opera Singing with Prof. Friedemann Röhlig at the University of Music in Karlsruhe. Further important artistic impulses he received from, among others, Mitsuko Shirai, Thomas Quasthoff, Teru Yoshihara and Brigitte Fassbaender. His song accompanists include Hyun-hwa Park, Ulrich Eisenlohr, Hartmut Höll and Matthias Alteheld.

(Photo: Clara Evens)

Cape Town-born viola player Azra Isaacs received her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees under the direction of Prof. Farida Bacharova at UCT’s South African College of Music. Both degrees were received with distinction, and she had individual distinctions in the subjects of Viola and Chamber Music. During her undergraduate degree, Ms Isaacs was placed on the Dean’s Merit List each year, and in her 3rd and 4th years, received the Alfred Libochowitz Prize for Strings. She was also one of the first participants in the Schock Foundation Prize for Chamber Music, having been a finalist in the 2008 Inaugural competition. Ms Isaacs was a soloist with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra in the Artscape Youth Music Festival of 2006. She became a full-time member of this orchestra in 2009, and was appointed Associate Principal viola for the orchestra in 2017. Ms Isaacs is also a part-time lecturer at the SACM, where she teaches viola and string repertoire studies.

Annien Shaw (Violin I), Matthew Stead (Violin II), Babette Roosenschoon (Cello), joined by Paula Gabriel (Viola).

Inspired by a common love and enthusiasm for chamber music of the highest level, four Cape Town based instrumentalists have brought together their shared experience and passion to form the Juliet String Quartet.

Annien Shaw, Matthew Stead, Petrus Coetzee and Babette Roosenschoon are four of South Africa’s finest “Generation-Y” musicians. Having collectively trained in South Africa, England, Austria and United States of America, they have worked and performed together for over ten years in various orchestras, ensembles, projects and competitions. Their combined skills, inspiration and fresh approach together with guidance from their various mentors make the formation of the Juliet String Quartet one of the most exciting developments in the local classical music scene. For this concert, Paula Gabriel will be joining the Juliet String Quartet on viola.

Creating a platform for performance and development of string quartet playing, to advance and promote classical music in South Africa, to inspire other musicians and audiences, to play “outside the box” with many genres and styles as well as to encourage collaborative musical performances, are all driving forces behind this new quartet.

Coinciding with the formation of the ensemble, cellist, Babette and her husband, Hans, welcomed to the world their new baby girl, Juliet. Regarded as a symbol of new life, new beginnings and possibilities, the group thought it well to name the quartet in her honour.

South African pianist Esthea Kruger obtained her BMus and MMus (Piano Performance) degrees (both cum laude) at Stellenbosch University under the guidance of Prof. Nina Schumann and Prof. Luis Magalhães, and was awarded Stellenbosch University's prestigious Chancellor’s Medal in 2009. After she had received scholarship offers from several music schools in the United States, she enrolled in a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance at the University of North Texas under the tutelage of Prof. Vladimir Viardo. Having completed her doctorate in 2012, she then commenced her Meisterklasse degree at the Hochschule für Musik Würzburg, Germany, studying in the class of Prof. Bernd Glemser. She was awarded the Meisterklassendiplom at the beginning of 2015. Additionally, she specialised in Art Song Accompaniment, obtaining a second master’s degree in 2019 in Liedgestaltung from the Hochschule für Musik Würzburg as student of Prof. Gerold Huber.

Esthea Kruger has won prizes at many major competitions in South Africa, such as the SAMRO Overseas Scholarships Competition, the ATKV-Muziq Competition, the FMR/Pick 'n Pay Travel Award Competition, the Stonehage Bursary Competition, the Mabel Quick Overseas Scholarship Competition and the UNISA National Piano Competition.

Apart from her solo performances, Esthea Kruger regularly appears in concert as chamber musician, in South Africa and abroad. As Lied accompanist she was awarded the pianist prize at the Armin Knab Singing Competition of the Hochschule für Musik Würzburg in 2013, 2015 and 2017. In 2018 she performed at the DAVOS FESTIVAL – young artists in concert in Switzerland. She is the founder and artistic director of Neues Lied, a festival for contemporary art song that she organises yearly in Germany. The festival was awarded the City of Würzburg’s Culture Prize in 2020. Neues Lied took place for the first time in Cape Town in 2022.

Since 2019 Esthea Kruger is piano lecturer at the South African College of Music at the University of Cape Town.

Photo: Lize Lake

Paulina Malefane is a Cape Town-born opera singer who studied with Virginia Davids at the University of Cape Town’s South African College of Music. Later she became co-founder and co-Music Director of Isango Ensemble. She saw worldwide success playing the role of Carmen, both on stage and in the Golden Bear-winning feature film U-Carmen eKhayelitsha, for which she won a Golden Thumb from Roger Ebert. She was awarded the Best Actress Award at the South African Film & Television Awards for the film Son of Man.

In 2006 Paulina made her Proms debut at London's Albert Hall with the songs of Kurt Weill. In 2009, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, she sang a series of concerts with the Berlin Philharmonic, which were broadcast on German television. 2012 saw Paulina playing the role of Venus in Isango's Venus & Adonis, which opened the Globe-to-Globe season at Shakespeare's Globe in London. On Isango’s USA Tour in 2015, she once again played Carmen and sang Titania in the new adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In 2016 Paulina created and played the roles of Yindy and Sadicya in A Man of Good Hope, based on Jonny Steinberg’s book of the same name, at London’s Young Vic and New York’s BAM. Paulina performed with the Berlin Philharmonic again in 2017 in The Cunning Little Vixen (conducted by Sir Simon Rattle), semi-staged by Peter Sellars and she reprised her role in 2019 when the piece was presented by the London Symphony Orchestra; for the recording of The Cunning Little Vixen Paulina was nominated for a Grammy Award.

In 2019 Paulina was appointed as a lecturer in vocal studies at the South African College of Music. In 2021 she reprised her role as Yindy in Isango Ensemble’s A Man of Good Hope at the National Theatre of Catalonia in Barcelona, Spain. In October 2022, Paulina plays the mother in Isango Ensemble’s Treemonisha in France and Luxemburg.

Adrian More was born in the small town of Welkom in the Free State in South Africa. He studied at the University of Cape Town, majoring in composition.He studied piano with Graham Fitch, voice with Brad Liebl and Sarita Stern, and compositions with the late Professor Peter Klatzow. During his undergraduate degree, Adrian had seven concerts all playing only his music in the Baxter Concert Hall.

Adrian went on to Study at the Royal College of Music in London where he completed a Master’s degree in advanced composition, film composition, piano and voice. He studied composition under Timothy Salter and attended masterclasses by world-class composers in film and serious composition. He also won the RCM prize for composition, awarding him a commission from the RCM. He received several awards for composition, piano and academics. He also completed a PGCE at UCT where he was the top student in the course.

Accolades include opening the world health summit with Pretty Yende; World-Premiering works of Peter Klatzow on piano and voice – Adrian sang Klatzow’s Spiritual Canticles of St. John of the Cross with Klatzow conducting the orchestra for a full audience and Archbishop Desmond Tutu; Performing for the Prince of Jeddah in the Seychelles; Singing for Nelson Mandela; Singing for the King’s Singers. He has had masterclasses with Murray Perahia, Hans Zimmer, Patrick Doyle, and Thomas Adès among others. He is also the winner of the prestigious Helgaard Steyn Prize for composition in 2018 with François du Toit and the Cape Town Philharmonic performing his first piano concerto.

He currently resides in Hamburg, Germany where he is composing for artists around the world while teaching.

Albie van Schalkwyk established himself as performer in a number of fields over the past 40 years. One of the leading chamber musicians and vocal accompanists in South Africa, he has also performed as soloist with SA orchestras, performed solo recitals, given master classes for singers and accompanists, worked as a music producer for the SABC, and arranged music for various combinations, including Broadway musicals and operas for 2 pianos and orchestral pieces for 3 to 8 pianos. He completed his Ph.D. in Music at the University of the Free State in May 2012.

His interest in vocal music and the art song in particular has led to many fulfilling concert partnerships with singers. One of these was the formation in 1994 of The Songmakers’ Guild, a Cape Town organisation which provides a regular platform to performers in the field of the art song and from which he recently retired as Artistic Director. He was involved in the Neuberg Internationale Kulturtage summer school as coach and performer for over 20 years and during one university sabbatical year worked as coach in the Vocal Department of the Mozarteum Music University in Salzburg, Austria. In 2009 the SA Academy of Arts and Sciences awarded him the Huberte Rupert Prize for his contribution to ensemble playing and teaching over more than 30 years.

Albie retired from his post as Associate Professor in Piano and Chamber Music at the SA College of Music, University of Cape Town, at the end of 2017. Since then he has continued his activities as collaborative pianist in chamber music and the art song repertoire, piano teacher (live and online), vocal coach and arranger for multiple pianos, all under the heading of the Musicumbrella Piano Studio.