Friday, 8 May, 17:00
Dutch Reformed Church, Greyton
R200
More than 50 years ago, the first cello ensemble affiliated to a well-known symphony orchestra was established in Cologne. The 12 celli of the Berlin Philharmonic, established just a few years later, is now an iconic brand and has inspired cello ensembles world-wide. Of the more recently formed cello ensembles is the six celli of the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra! The cello is the musical instrument with a range and timbre closest to the human voice. No wonder choirs and cello ensembles pull at the heart strings of discerning listeners and passersby alike. The CPO celli—Peter Martens, Eddie McLean, Matthias Remley-Ender, Ashlin Grobbelaar, Rosamund Roth and Dane Coetzee—will play a beautiful programme ranging from traditional classics to popular tunes from the silver screen.
ASHLIN GROBBELAAR
Ashlin Grobbelaar began their musical journey with the Mangaung String Programme in Bloemfontein and is a graduate of the University of Cape Town, where they studied at the South African College of Music under the tutelage of Graham du Plessis. Ashlin performs regularly as an ad hoc cellist with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra.
Ashlin has appeared with numerous leading orchestral and chamber ensembles and has served as Principal Cellist of both the MIAGI and the South African National Youth orchestras. They have also performed with the Junge Norddeutsche Philharmonie. Ashlin has appeared as a soloist with the Free State Symphony Orchestra, the OSM Camerata, the University of Cape Town Symphony and the Hugo Lambrechts Symphony orchestras. They performed in the opening concert of
the FynArts Festival in Hermanus under the baton of Richard Cock, and have further appeared as a soloist at the Franschhoek Chamber Music Festival.
Ashlin has also participated in the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival. They have garnered notable competition accolades including as runner-up in the UCT Strings Competition in both 2022 and 2024, and, together with their chamber ensemble, won the Schock Prize for Chamber Music in 2022 and again in 2025. Alongside an active
performance career, Ashlin is deeply committed to music education and outreach, striving to create opportunities that make high quality musical training more accessible to individuals from similar backgrounds to their own.
DANE COETZEE
Dane Coetzee started playing the cello in the New Apostolic Church and went on to
graduate in cello performance studies at the universities of Cape Town and Stellenbosch respectively. As a student he was a cellist in the Cape Philharmonic, South African National and MIAGI youth orchestras. As a member of the Stellenbosch Graduate string quartet he won 1st prize in the National Ensemble Competition.
Dane has performed concerts and participated in the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival, the Harare International Festival of the Arts in Zimbabwe and the Festival of Music In Santa Catarina, Brazil, and has embarked on tours performing in the USA, Dubai and Hong Kong. He has also appeared as both solo performer and chamber musician at the KKNK, Suidoosterfees, the National Arts Festival, Klein Karoo Klassique, the Greyton Genadendal Classics for All Festival and has performed as soloist with the CPO, the CPYO and the Musicanti Orchestra.
Dane was a full-time cellist for the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra for a number of years before joining the faculty of Beau Soleil Music Centre, Cape Town, where he currently occupies the position of cello teacher and cellist of the Beau Soleil Piano Quartet. Outside of Beau Soleil he remains active as a solo performer, chamber and orchestral musician, recording session cellist and enjoys regular cross collaborations with artists across a broad range of musical genres.
EDDIE MCLEAN
Eddie McLean was born in 1979 in Cape Town, South Africa into a distinguished family of professional musicians. His parents (both being violinists), started him on the violin but with an uncle and two cousins already playing the cello, the young Eddie insisted that this was the instrument he wanted to play. He began cello lessons aged 7 and piano lessons the following year. He was initially unsure whether to follow a career path in music and so completed a BSc in Mathematics at the University of Cape Town.
The musical urge was too strong, however, and he subsequently became a professional cellist. He was a member of the Sontonga quartet in 2005 and 2006 with which he performed in Holland, Slovenia, Germany, Australia and the USA. Since 2008 he has been sub-principal cellist of the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra. He has nevertheless continued to be an active chamber musician and recitalist. Musical highlights in this area have included performing and video streaming the Schubert string quintet with the Amici string quartet (in honour of the late, great Marian Lewin – a former teacher, mentor and friend); numerous performances with The 6 Celli, and recording the world premiere of the Sonata for Solo Cello by Allan Stephenson.
MATTHIAS REMLEY-ENDER
Matthias Remley-Ender started playing the cello at the age of 8 at the local music school in Hohenems in Austria with Wolfgang Mayer. Mayer lit a fire in the young Matthias by having him perform in small local operas and operettas. After some very active years in Vorarlberg where he nurtured a deep interest in historically informed performance practice, Matthias went to study cello with Michael Hell at the Tiroler Landeskonservatorium in Innsbruck where he passed his final examination with distinction.
Masterclasses with Roel Dieltiens and Raphael Wallfisch rounded off his musical education. He played for many years as a freelance musician in various orchestras such as Vorarlberger Landessinfonieorchester, Kammerphilharmonie Bodensee Oberschwaben, Tiroler Symphonieorchester Innsbruck as well as in many chamber music formations, particularly the NOMA piano trio which had an active stage life for several years. Matthias plays repertoire from as early as the Renaissance to the works of contemporary composers. Although traditionally trained, he considers himself musically a free spirit with his heart beating for music from before 1800. Since 2022 he is a permanent member of the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra.
PETER MARTENS
SAMA, FIËSTA and WOORDTROFEE award winning cellist, Peter Martens, is currently
principal cellist with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra and Director of the
Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival. Of his recently released CD of
concertos by Saint-Saëns and Vieuxtemps with Bernhard Gueller and the CPO, Andy
Wilding writes, “Martens’ cello is one of the most beautiful sounds – a deep rich
harmonic wooden stringed singing being. His playing is superb, compassionate elegant
phrasing, and flawless technique.”
Peter holds a PhD from Stellenbosch University where he studied with Dalena Roux. He also studied with Heidi Litschauer at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. He is a member of the Amici String Quartet and has enjoyed chamber music partnerships with amongst others, Leon Bosch (double bass), Priya Mitchell, Benjamin Schmid, Sergey Malov and Suzanne Martens (violin), as well as Leslie Howard (piano). He has also performed with the Brodsky String Quartet in London. With the Stellenbosch University Camerata in which he served as Artistic Director and principal cellist, he performed with Joshua Bell and Pinchas Zukerman.
Concerto engagements have resulted in collaborations with a number of fine conductors including Victor Yampolsky, Bernard Gueller, Douglas Boyd, Wolfram Christ, Nicholas Cleobury and Jonas Alber. He has participated in festivals in France, Russia, Holland, Salzburg, Ireland, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Portugal as well has having performed in the U.K. and U.S.A. Many South African composers have written for him, notably Allan Stephenson, whose cello concerto he recorded for Meridian Records with the CPO. He has recorded the Beethoven Cello Sonatas with Luis Magalhäes, and the Bach Cello Suites for TwoPianists Records, both distributed internationally by Naxos.
ROSAMUND ROTH
Rosamund Roth (cello) was born in Pretoria and started her musical education at an early age. She attended Pro Arte High School for the Arts and went on to obtain her BMus from the University of Stellenbosch, where she studied under Magdalena Roux. There she also completed honours degrees in both Latin and English Literature. During her studies she played with professional orchestras like the CPO and the KZNPO on a regular basis as an ad hoc player. Her studies next took her to Zürich, Switzerland, where she studied in the class of Professor Roel Dieltiens.
She obtained a Masters in Music Pedagogy, as well as a Masters in Transdisciplinary Studies from the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste. She was very active as a teacher in St Gallen, Appenzell, and Zurich, and as a performer throughout Switzerland. She was co-principal cellist with the Zürcher Kammerphilharmonie for six years. During the Covid pandemic she started playing the viola da gamba after discovering a great passion for early music, and took private lessons with Paolo Pandolfo in Basel. In 2022 she returned to Cape Town to play full time with the CPO, and to focus on a career as a performer on the cello, the Baroque cello, and the viola de gamba.
