Musical treats for the ears

Three artists from diverse backgrounds are bringing a very unique musical experience to Omaruru.
Otis Finck
The musical show Best Music of the World is one to look forward to at this year's edition of the Omaruru Arts Festival.

It is directed by Sandy Rudd and features class performers Esther Fellner and René Giessen. The show takes place in the Omaruru ­riverbed on 31 August and starts at 18:30.

Esther Fellner

Swiss artist Esther Fellner knows how to please a crowd with her velvet voice.

Fellner grew up in Locarno in the canton of Ticino and began her artistic career at the age of 16 with a ballet degree in Zürich.

She was trained in the subjects of dance, acrobatics, juggling, pantomime, acting, improvisation and singing at the Scuola Teatro Dimitri.

During this time she also met the Italian singer Daisj Lumini, who sang old Italian folk songs and influenced her artistic career significantly.

She moved to Stuttgart and founded a theater ensemble together with Frieder Nögge.

Pieces such as Amore, Mondschalk and the children's play Nippel, Napp und Nögge" were created and performed at various locations in Germany.

In addition, Esther Fellner sang the Italian songs that she had rehearsed in Ticino on numerous recitals and has performed regularly since 1995.

Numerous performances took her through Germany and Switzerland.

She gave two recitals in Israel in 2003. Her repertoire, which focused on French chansons - including those of Édith Piaf, Charles Aznavour and Jacques Brel - as well as Italian songs, extended to include songs from South America and Israel.

Esther Fellner also made an appearance with the Cologne Philharmonic, singing songs by Walter Jurmann, in 2006.

Sandy Rudd

Musical director Sandy Rudd was born in Harare, Zimbabwe, and studied theatre at the University of Namibia (Unam).

Having been active in the Namibian theatre scene for 35 years, Rudd has a total of 45 national productions as well as six international productions under her belt. She currently lives in Windhoek.

She has won numerous awards for her directorial ability in productions like Meme Mia! (theNamibian adaptation of Mama Mia!), Complete Works of Shakespeare, The Lesson, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, amongst others.



René Giessen

The world renowned German musician, composer and conductor René Giessen was born in Prague on 24 December 1944. He is no stranger to standing ovations.

Giessen is widely known for playing the harmonica in various cover versions of the title melody of the famous German Winnetou-movies from the 1960s starring Pierre Brice and Lex Barker. This melody was composed by German composer Martin Böttcher and originally played by Johnny Müller.

At the time the original themes from the Karl May movies were published, they held top positions in the German charts and can be considered a landmark in German film music history.

The success of these movies originated a whole new genre later, known as the “Spaghetti Westerns” where once again the harmonica plays a dominant role. There is even a character by the name of Harmonica in Sergio Leone's movie Once Upon a Time in the West.

Giessen has been living in the German ­capital Berlin since 2015 and is currently working on his first chamber opera. He continues to write, conduct and play a wide variety of music genres which have led him to work with a broad spectrum of musicians including Dimitri Tiomkin, Alessandro Alessandroni, Frederic Talgom, David Shalon, Peter Seiffert and György Kourtag.

His performances with the world renowned Anna Maria Kaufmann reached large audiences throughout Germany and touched people's hearts with an unforgettable experience.

Kommentaar

Republikein 2024-11-23

Geen kommentaar is op hierdie artikel gelaat nie

Meld asseblief aan om kommentaar te lewer

Katima Mulilo: 20° | 36° Rundu: 20° | 37° Eenhana: 22° | 36° Oshakati: 25° | 35° Ruacana: 22° | 36° Tsumeb: 23° | 36° Otjiwarongo: 22° | 35° Omaruru: 23° | 36° Windhoek: 23° | 34° Gobabis: 23° | 35° Henties Bay: 14° | 19° Swakopmund: 14° | 16° Walvis Bay: 13° | 20° Rehoboth: 23° | 35° Mariental: 24° | 38° Keetmanshoop: 24° | 39° Aranos: 28° | 38° Lüderitz: 13° | 25° Ariamsvlei: 23° | 40° Oranjemund: 13° | 21° Luanda: 25° | 26° Gaborone: 22° | 36° Lubumbashi: 17° | 32° Mbabane: 18° | 31° Maseru: 16° | 32° Antananarivo: 17° | 31° Lilongwe: 22° | 33° Maputo: 23° | 31° Windhoek: 23° | 34° Cape Town: 17° | 27° Durban: 20° | 25° Johannesburg: 19° | 31° Dar es Salaam: 26° | 32° Lusaka: 22° | 33° Harare: 21° | 31° #REF! #REF!