Date : Cape Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO) in African Songbirds, featuring Gloria Bosman, Jelena Revishin and Nontutthuzelo Puoane, conducted by Mike Campbell and including a jazz quintet.
November 18: Pop Goes the Orchestra, conducted by George Michie, featuring Zayn Adams.
December 5 to 8: Moya Wa Sechaba Spirit of the Nation, with Sibongile Khumalo and her son, Tshepo Mngoma, on violin, the Zip Zap Circus and Jazzart Dance Theatre with Janine Neethling as MD.
December 20 to 24, 26 to 30: RooiKoppitjie brings a full-blown pantomime to Spier. The Afrikaans title of course is subject to various meanings, but it’s based on the Little Red Riding Hood story, set in the Boland. With life closely imitating art, the Big Bad Wolf here is the local mayor chasing his sweet, innocent personal assistant, while the handsome hero is a Stellenbosch wine farmer. Marthinus Basson directs and Shaleen Surtie-Richards plays the bergie-cum-narrator, Agnes.
January 5, 6, 9, 11 and 15: January is Spier’s month of opera. There’s The Magic Flute (Mozart) directed by Angelo Gobbato, with an all-South African cast: Luzuko Mahlaba (Tamino), Zanne Stapelberg (Pamina), Beverley Chiat (Queen of the Night) and Kaiser Nkosi (Sarastro). With the Free Flight Dance Co and the CPO conducted by Gunther Wallner
January 12, 18,19, 24 and 27: Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas will be directed by Paul Stern and conducted by Hans Huyssen. Costumes and setting will be “African baroque”. The name roles will be sung by Sibongile Khumalo and Brad Liebl.
January 25, 26, 28 and 30; February 1 and 2: Madam Butterfly needs no introduction. This time Stern’s direction will be “traditional”. The soloists are Kumiko Endo (Butterfly), Jannie Moolman (Pinkerton), Christina Farr (Suzuki) and Jaco Venter (Sharpless). Alex Kaladjic will conduct .
February 3 to 16: During the first half of February P4 Radio will present a staggering line-up under the banner “Kings and Queens of Africa”, including performances by the Soweto String Quartet (February 3 and 4), Abdullah Ibrahim in his African Suite (February 8 and 9), the legendary Senegalese artist, Baaba Maal (February 13) and a gala evening featuring Ibrahim, Ekaya, Sathima Bea Benjamin and Maal (February 15 and 16).
February 27 and 28; March 1 and 2: Up-and-coming Afrikaans playwright Saartjie Botha presents Spanner, a comic behavioural study of Afrikaans men, their tools and toys from a woman’s perspective.
DATE : AARS! is a study of The Oresteia written by the Belgian playwrights Peter Verhelst and Luc Perceval. In Marthinus Basson’s translation the complexity of blood ties is explored. Featuring Antoinette Kellermann, Dawid Minnaar and brilliant newcomers Rolanda Marais and Jaco Bouwer.
March 14 to 16: The festival’s grand finale is entitled Duke Ellington’s Sacred Concertos and will feature Virginia Davids, Melanie Scholtz and Abel Motswadi.