A former Bridge House pupil and young violinist from Wellington will showcase his talent this weekend when he will perform in the National Youth Orchestra (NYO).
Hundreds of young musicians audition for a coveted place in the National Youth Orchestra, and a select few are chosen to form the green and gold national team each year.
Jeffrey Armstrong (19), a violinist from Wellington, is one of the talented young musicians who will perform – as an orchestra member and a soloist – in the National Youth Orchestra in Cape Town on Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 July. The orchestra’s programme includes Mahler’s glorious Fifth Symphony and Benjamin Britten’s seldom-heard Double Concerto for Violin and Viola, written when the composer was just eighteen. The orchestra will be conducted by the sensational Ewa Strusiñska, a finalist and laureate at the prestigious Gustav Mahler International Conducting Competition, and principal conductor and music director of the Szczecin Philharmonic Orchestra in Poland.
Jeffrey started his training in the instrument at the age of six under Charlene Bogenhagen at the Frank Pietersen Music Centre in Paarl, Cape Town. In 2011 he began lessons with Prof Jack de Wet, and he is now studying music at the Birmingham Conservatoire in the UK. Jeffrey was awarded first prize at the Pieter Kooij Competition in August 2013. In 2014 he won both the SACS (South African College Schools) and Artscape National Youth music competitions. He has appeared as a soloist with all of the major orchestras in South Africa and he has been the concert master for the Cape Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival’s “Festival Orchestra” and the National Youth Orchestra.
At the beginning of 2013, as a member of the National Youth Orchestra, Jeffrey had the privilege of playing with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra under the baton of Sir Roger Norrington for the duration of their South African tour. In February 2015 he toured with Sir James and Lady Jeanne Galway and the Zurich Chamber Orchestra.
Jeffrey has just completed his first year B Mus (Perf) at Birmingham Conservatoire in the UK.
The first concert, on 16 July at 19:00 at the Hugo Lambrechts Auditorium in Parow, will be presented in association with Fine Music Radio, as part of their drive to sponsor 67 radios for beneficiaries of the Cape Town Society for the Blind. Proceeds will go towards the National Youth Orchestra’s bursary fund, and radios sponsored by Fine Music Radio listeners and Pick n Pay will be handed over on the night. Tickets, available online from Tixsa, range from R100 to R120. For a more intimate affair, the second concert will be hosted in the majestic ballroom of the Belmond Mount Nelson Hotel at 15:00 on 17 July. Tickets at R450 are available online from Tixsa. The ticket price includes canapés, drinks and parking. Every ticket contributes to the musical education of the orchestra members. The orchestra is funded by the National Lotteries Commission and the Department of Arts and Culture. Proceeds from the concerts will go towards the National Youth Orchestra’s bursary fund.
