Sunday, 12 May, 10:00, Dutch Reformed Church, Greyton R180
The Da Cape’O String Quartet, consisting of Valentina Vorster (violin), Renée van der Westhuizen (violin), Karin Gaertner (viola) and Dane Coetzee (cello) is set to embark on a captivating musical tour through Eastern Europe, presenting a repertoire featuring compositions by Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Hungarian and Czechoslovakian composers. The musical tapestry from Eastern Europe intricately weaves together the rich threads of each country’s national folklore. Composers of Eastern Europe draw inspiration from traditional chants and dances, delicately infusing the melodies with the rhythms of irregular compound meters. To conclude the programme, a carefully curated collection of Hungarian dances by J Brahms will add a fitting flourish to the central thematic exploration
Biographies
Dane Coetzee
Dane Coetzee started playing the cello in the New Apostolic Church. He went on to graduate in cello performance studies at UCT and Stellenbosch University respectively. As a member of the Stellenbosch Graduate string quartet he won 1st prize in the National Ensemble competition. He has performed concerts and participated in the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival, The Harare International Festival of the Arts, Zimbabwe and The Festival of Music in Santa Catarina, Brazil and has embarked on tours performing in the USA, Dubai and Hong Kong. Dane appeared as soloist and chamber musician at the KKNK, The Suidoosterfees, The National Arts Festival, Klein Karoo Klassique and performed as a soloist with The Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, The Cape Town Philharmonic Youth Orchestra and the Musicanti Orchestra. He has been featured and performed on radio, South African national television, as solo and orchestral cellist for the soundtracks of local and international films and features as cellist on the albums of numerous artists. Dane occupied a permanent Tutti cello position in the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra until October 2021 and resigned to take up the position of cello teacher at the Beau Soleil Music Centre in Cape Town. His current performance portfolio includes activities as a soloist, chamber musician, ad-hoc orchestral musician and studio session cellist. He also enjoys collaborations with various artists, performing across a vast range of musical genres.
Karin Gaertner
Karin Gaertner was a member of the former CT Symphony Orchestra for many years and then principal violist of the former CT Philharmonic Orchestra prior to its closure. Her studies include a B.Sc from UCT and a Performer’s Diploma from the conservatoire Claudio Monteverdi in Italy, as well as various master classes in Europe. Her work experience beyond SA’s borders includes several years as an ad-hoc member of the Orchestra del teatro lirico di Cagliari (Sardinia, Italy), the Orchestra Haydn (Bolzano, Italy) and the Mozarteum Orchester, Salzburg. She is an active Chamber musician and regular member of the Amici String Quartet, the Palm Strings Quartet and many other free-lance chamber groups and ad-hoc orchestras.
Renée van der Westhuizen
Renée van der Westhuizen started her musical training in 1988 at the Hugo Lambrechts Music Centre under the tuition of Louis van der Watt.
Throughout her career Renée appeared as a soloist at the Hugo Lambrechts Concerto Festival, with the Stellenbosch Symphony Orchestra, Cape Town Baroque Ensemble and Camerata Tinta Barocca. Renee was the recipient of various awards including the Robert Clough bursary at the UNISA bursary competition as well as several merit bursaries from the University of Stellenbosch (2000-2002).
From an early age Renée showed great interest in orchestral playing. She was a member and co-concert master of the National Youth Orchestra (1997-2003), co-concert master of Canticum Novum (1999-2002) and a member and concertmaster (2002; 2007) of the University of Stellenbosch Symphony Orchestra.
Renee completed a BMus Degree in Performance at the University of Stellenbosch (2003) under the tuition of Suzanne Martens. She is a former member of various local orchestras including the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Johannesburg Festival Orchestra, Johannesburg Music Initiative, Chamber Orchestra of South Africa, Pro Musica, MIAGI and Camerata Tinta Barocca. Renee was a permanent tutti member of the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra from 2014-2019 and still performs with the orchestra on an ad hoc basis.
Renée has been active as a teacher/substitute teacher at various public and private schools, as well as community music initiatives in and around Cape Town. She completed her Suzuki Teachers examination and accreditation for Level 1, 2 and 3. Since 2010 she runs a successful violin studio from her home in Cape Town.
Valentina Koleva Vorster
Valentina Koleva-Vorster started with violin lessons at the age of five. Her first orchestral
experience dates from when she was only eight years old, joining the vocal-instrumental
ensemble ‘Zname na Mira” for performing and recording Bulgarian children songs. In grade
four she was accepted in the special Music School “Panayot Pipkov” in her hometown
Pleven, Bulgaria, where the main focus was various music disciplines and performance
practices. During her school career Valentina won several Bulgarian national competitions
for solo violin and chamber music.
Valentina completed her BMus in violin performance at the National Academy of Music in
Sofia, Bulgaria in 2000. As a member of two Bulgarian State Symphony orchestras, she has
toured extensively on opera tours throughout Europe.
She joined KZN Philharmonic Orchestra and Baroque 2000 Orchestra in 2002, holding the
position of Co-Principal of the first violinists in the KZN Philharmonic Orchestra between
2006 -2009, and appearing as a soloist with both orchestras on several occasions. Valentina
was a member of the Wouter String Quartet (later named the Blue Velvet String Quartet),
which was voted Best Classical group in KZN for 2007. She has performed in many chamber
concerts with several of South Africa’s top musicians.
After getting married in January 2009, Valentina moved to Cape Town. She became a
freelance musician and a regular ad hoc violinist with the Cape Town Philharmonic
Orchestra as well as a member of Cape Town Baroque Orchestra (formerly named the
Camerata Tinta Barocca) and the Stellenbosch University Camerata. As a chamber and solo
musician, she has performed in many music festivals in South Africa.
Valentina was part of two CD recordings with Tim Kliphuis Trio and Stellenbosch University Camerata for Sony Music, as well as in other studio recordings for movie documentaries.
She has worked closely with the late Cape Town based composer Anthony Costandius and
premiered several of his works. One of them “The Tragic tale of Torbalan ond Oude Rode
Rogen” for violin and double bass was dedicated to her and her colleague Roxane Steffen
and premiered at Classics for All festival in Greyton in 2017.
Valentina was a part-time violin teacher at Beau Soleil Music Centre in 2010, and was the
First violinist at the Beau Soleil String Quartet. She was also a full-time violin and viola
teacher, the conductor of the Senior String orchestra and the concertmaster of the
Symphony orchestra at Hugo Lambrechts Music Centre in Parow (Cape Town) between
2011 and 2108, with which she performed extensively and received numerous awards.
Valentina is currently a free-lance musician, pursuing her orchestral, chamber music and
solo career. She has a private teaching studio and a student string orchestra – Da Cape’O
Strings at El Shaddai Christian school in Durbanville.
