Friday, 9 May 2025, 17:00, Moravian Church, Greyton, R190
Liesl Stoltz (flute), Langa Dubazana (drums), Roxane Steffen (bass) and Tertia Visser-Downie (piano)
Collaborating with a group of esteemed artists, flautist Liesl Stoltz presents a programme featuring the works of French cross-over pianist and composer Claude Bolling, as well as music by British composer and flautist Mike Mower. The programme includes the renowned Bolling Suites, which were made famous by the legendary French flautist Jean-Pierre Rampal. The Bolling Suites are a time fusion of classical and jazz elements, offering a sophisticated yet accessible listening experience. Also on the programme is the Sonata Latino by Mike Mower, a composition that beautifully blends Latin American rhythms with classical and jazz influences.
BIOGRAPHIES
Langa Dubazana is a graduate of The South African College of Music (SACM) at the University of Cape Town (UCT) with a BMus in Jazz Studies with distinction. It is there he studied drum set, honing his skills as a member of the UCT Big Band for two of his four years of study. A multi-disciplinary musician, his versatility has seen him occupy the stage in Cape Town’s jazz combos, big bands, musical theatre shows and festivals such as: Hubert Laws: Desmond Tutu Memorial Concert (2024), The Fugard Theatre’s production of Kinky Boots The Musical (2019-2020), The UCT Alumni Big Band (2022, 2023) and the Klein Karoo Klassique Festival (2023). As a classical percussionist, he has won the Hendrik Hofmeyr Prize for the Performance of a South African Work (2024) and placed as a runner up in the Schock Foundation Prize for Chamber Music (2023). He is a member of the Ergonomix Percussion Ensemble, where he has featured as a marimba soloist performing at the Baxter Concert Hall.
Liesl Stoltz began studying the flute at age 13 with Éva Tamássy at the University of Stellenbosch. In 1994 she was awarded a scholarship to study with Shigenori Kudo at the École Normale de Musique de Paris: Alfred Cortot where she also studied with Pierre-Yves Artaud, Jean Ferrandis and Chantal Debushy. Here she was awarded the Diplôme Supérieur de Concertiste de flûte and Diplôme Supérieur de Concertiste de Musique de Chambre (à l’unanimité). She furthered her studies in Italy at the Accademia Internazionale Superiore di Musica: Lorenzo Perosi with Swiss maestro Peter-Lukas Graf and obtained the Concert Diploma in flute in 2001. In South Africa she was awarded the degrees MMus (2003) and DMus (2010) by the University of Cape Town.
Liesl was fortunate to receive scholarships from various institutions for her overseas studies. These scholarships include: Bill Venter/FAK music scholarship; SAMRO; Oppenheimer Memorial Trust; FAK; South African Society of Music Teachers; École Normale de Musique de Paris.
Liesl won various international awards including first prize in the 12th Friedrich Kuhlau International Flute Competition in Germany (2007), 3rd place in the International Flute Competition in Timisoara, Romania (2007), finalist in the Leonardo de Lorenzo International Flute Competition in Italy (2005), and second prize winner at the Jeunesses Musicales Competition in Bucharest, Romania (1999). Local prizes include ATKV Forté Music prize (overall winner – 1999), SAMRO Music Prize (second prize – 2000), Huguenot Music Competition (winner – 1995) to name a few.
In 2011 she continued with post-doctorate studies at the University of Cape Town which was generously funded by the AW Mellon foundation. The aim of her research was to promote South African composers and their works for flute. In 2012 she toured Europe with pianist François du Toit presenting concerts and workshops of South African flute music at the University of the Performing Arts (Vienna, Austria), Cité Universitaire de Paris, (France) and Cardiff University (Whales). In 2016 she was invited to give a recital at the French Flute Convention in Paris where she performed South African Flute music together with pianist José Dias. Her recording Explorations – South African Flute Music (recorded with pianists Francois du Toit, José Dias and Pieter van Zyl as well as harpist Jacqueline Kerrod) won the category “creative output” for the annual Humanities and Social Sciences awards from the Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences in 2017.
Over the years she made various other recordings including French Flute Music, Histoire du Tango (with Portuguese classical guitarist, Pedro Rodrigues), Vuurvoël (with Magdalene Minnaar and Mario Nell) and most recently Recital (together with pianist Albie van Schalkwyk).
Liesl regularly acts as external examiner at academic institutions and as adjudicator for local eisteddfods and music competitions. She performed as a soloist and also as guest principal with all major orchestras in South Africa. In addition to her career as a soloist and chamber musician she teaches flute and chamber music at the University of Cape Town since 2003. She is a founder member of The Rainbow Exchange NPC whose aim it is to bring the performing arts to communitikes who do not have easy access to it, to provide a platform for young, upcoming performing artists and to promote South African composers.
Roxane Steffen started her musical education at the age of 6 with violin at the Music School of Delft, The Netherlands. At the age of 8 she started cello lessons and changed to double bass when she was 16. After finishing her studies for Performance Diploma at The Royal Conservatory in The Hague she got her first contract for Tutti Double Bass with The Netherlands Ballet Orchestra in Amsterdam and filled the position of Sub-Principal with Holland Symfonia from 2002-2006. In 2004 Roxane took a sabbatical to come to Cape Town for one year to fill the position of Sub-Principal Double Bass in The Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO). In January 2006 she resigned her job in The Netherlands to return to Cape Town to fill the position of Principal Double Bass with the CPO and has not left Cape Town since. Roxane has been teaching Double Bass in Cape Town since 2004 at various institutions and privately. Currently she is only lecturing at the South African College of Music (University of Cape Town) at both the classical and jazz stream and works closely with The Cape Town Philharmonic Youth Orchestra musicians. Next to her job at the CPO, teaching and other chamber music projects she plays concerts promoting the solo double bass and played Allan Stephenson’s Burlesque for Double Bass and small orchestra with the CPO in October 2021 at their symphony season with Bernhard Gueller conducting and has featured as soloist with the Musicanti Chamber Orchestra Cape Town. Roxane is also a qualified Personal Trainer, Yoga instructor and Digital Marketer and uses all disciplines in her lessons. During 2020, the year of lock down, Roxane developed a passion for video editing which resulted in making various videos for the CPO and starting the YouTube channel ‘Cape Town MotoLife’ where Roxane combines her love for riding motorbikes with creating videos.
Tertia Visser-Downie is an accomplished South African pianist who studied under national and international piano masters John Antoniadis, and London-based Martino Tirimo, after winning the prestigious Mabel Quick Overseas Scholarship.
She completed her Honours degree in Music at the University of Stellenbosch, as well as achieving the Unisa Performers’ and Teachers’ Licentiates, with distinction in both qualifications.
Tertia regularly gets invited as an official accompanist at globally acclaimed music competitions and regularly accompanies talented and award-winning musicians at various events and concerts. She was one of the official accompanists at the UNISA International String Competition in 2010, accompanying Yura Lee (violin), the overall winner. In 2014 she accompanied Sang Yoon Kim (clarinet), one of the global winners of the Unisa Flute and Clarinet Competition, enhancing her profile as a leading South African accompanist, impacting the international music scene.
Tertia’s talent is versatile and in 2009, she joined renowned poet Philip de Vos on a national tour to bring masterpieces “Pictures at an Exhibition” by Mussorgsky and “Kinderscenen” by Schumann to stage, radio and television. In 2008 Tertia took the leading female role in Pieter Dirk Uys’s play, Appassionata, and performed the Beethoven Sonata with the same name.
Tertia has produced numerous CDs of her own as well as establishing and managing her “Tots in Tune” programme designed to introduce classical music to young toddlers. She also released a CD with well-known cellist Marian Lewin at the end of 2009.
In November 2016, she received her Fellowship from the Trinity College of Music.
She has been organising the very successful Erin Hall Concert Series in Rondebosch since the beginning of 2014.
