Concerts

Old Nectar Concerts welcomes prize-winners of the 2023 Neues Lied Competition for Art Song Duos: sopranos Molly Dzangare and Lauren Pharaoh with collaborative pianists Leah Paterson-Jones and Mikhaila Porter. Join us on Sunday 1 September 2024 at 4pm for a carefully curated recital titled ‘Nocturne – Night and Dreams,’ at Old Nectar gardens historic wine cellar in Jonkershoek.

This afternoon of art songs explores the nuances and contradictions of the night and dreams. Release from the brightness of daylight, from consciousness into sleep and dreaminess, the night’s seductive, mysterious potion-like allure has fascinated artists throughout the ages. Lullabies celebrate repose, the restful charm; serenades celebrate love. Other works mark the fear of darkness, the unseen and what may lurk beneath the veil of the night. This carefully curated programme features works from the Romantic era to the 21st century, highlighting composers such as Schubert, Schumann, Strauss and Hofmeyr, each piece transporting the listener into a realm of deep emotion and introspection through the mysteries of the night and the beauty of dreams.

Zimbabwean soprano Molly Dzangare is currently in her final Performer's Diploma course at Opera UCT. She is a recent first prize winner of the Aviva Pelham Operetta Competition and in 2024 was awarded a bursary from ‘The friends of Opera in Cape Town’ and was also awarded a bursary by Opera Europa’s, ‘Eva Kleinitz Scholarship Competition.’ She debuted her first title role in a new opera by Hendrick Hofmeyr as Sara in Sara Baartman in 2022 and in 2023 she debuted in The Tales of Hoffmann as Giulietta. She is currently working on the title role for the world-première staging of Donizetti’s opera Dalinda, with Opera UCT in September at the Baxter Theatre.

South African soprano Lauren Pharaoh is currently completing a MMus degree at the University of Cape Town. In 2022 she performed as chorus member in the premiere of Hofmeyr’s opera Sara Baartman. In 2023 she performed the role of Annina in Cape Town Opera and Opera UCT’s La Traviata. In the same year, she received second prize in the Aviva Pelham Operetta Competition and in the Schock Foundation Prize for Singing Competition as well as the Audience prize, Best Opera Aria prize and the Best South African Song prize. A recent highlight includes performing as a soloist with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra in Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Maynardville Open-Air Festival

Leah Paterson-Jones is a final year piano student at the University of Cape Town studying under Assoc Prof François du Toit. In 2019 Leah received the Steven de Groote Prize for Musical Performance at Westerford and was a finalist in both the Pieter Kooij and Johann Vos music competitions. In the same year Leah performed a concerto on piano with the Hugo Lambrechts Orchestra as well as a concerto on flute in the City Hall. In 2021 she took part in the Johann Vos and National Youth Music Competition. In addition to solo performance and art song accompaniment, Leah teaches piano privately as well as at Westerford High School.

Pianist, Mikhaila Porter is a third year piano BMus performance student at the University of Cape Town studying under Assoc Prof François du Toit. She is the winner of several local and national piano competitions and has performed as a soloist in the Artscape Concerto Festival and Hugo Lambrechts Concerto Festival.

Tickets are available via Quicket for R200 per person and include selected wines from Banhoek’s renowned Oldenburg Wine Estate and finger food at interval. Student / learner tickets are offered at R50 per concert. Guests are invited to come early or stay after the concert to enjoy the tranquility of the Old Nectar gardens.

PROGRAMME

Lauren Pharaoh & Mikhaila Porter

ROSSINI La Pastorella dell'Alpi
DEBUSSY Nuit d'etoiles
SCHUBERT Die Krähe
HAHN L'heure exquise
MOZART Abendempfindung
BARBER The Crucifixion
DEBUSSY Beau soir
R. STRAUSS Die Nacht
S. LE ROUX MARAIS Mali, die slaaf se lied

Molly Dzangare & Leah Paterson-Jones

SCHUBERT Gretchen am Spinnrade, Op. 2, D. 118
SCHUBERT Nacht und Träume D.827
SCHUMANN Myrthen, Op. 25 No. 1: Widmung
BONDS What Lips My Lips Have Kissed
FAURÉ Après un rêve, Op. 7 No. 1
HOFMEYR Of Innocence and Experience, No. 1: Spring
R. STRAUSS Vier letzte Lieder, TrV 296 No. 3: Beim Schlafengehen