The 19th edition of the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival (SICMF) kicked off last week.

SICMF is a project of the Department of Music in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Stellenbosch University. The festival has constituted around 90 student ensembles this year, including pianists, saxophonists and all the instruments of the orchestra.

World-stars who will be making their South African debut at the 2024 SICMF include maestros, Michael Repper and Simeone Tartaglione. Repper’s album with the New York Youth Symphony, featuring debut recordings of works by Florence Price, Jessie Montgomery, and Valerie Coleman achieved widespread critical acclaim, reached #1 on the Billboard Chart, and won a Grammy Award, marking the first time a youth orchestra has ever achieved this milestone

New internationally acclaimed instrumental artists include Anna Vasileva who started playing the violin at the age of 4, and who more recently regularly performed as a member of the Basel Symphony Orchestra, Tonhalle Orchestra Zürich and the Orchestra of Opernhaus Zürich.

Fedor Belugin is a violist, conductor and artist of the David Oistrakh String Quartet as well as a laureate of various international competitions. Zoran Marković, also an international competition laureate, is a double bass virtuoso who has performed at numerous festivals including the Aspecte Salzburg, Neuebühne Villach, and Kuhmo Chamber Music Festivals.

Ekaterina Kornishina, who started the flute at the age of 4, regularly participates in international music festivals in France, Norway, Germany, Israel, Russia, Greece, Austria and Italy. Ivy Ringel is the principal bassoonist of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra who prior to serving as guest principal bassoonist for a number of orchestras, held academic appointments at Indiana University, Butler University and Morehouse College.

Emanuil Ivanov, who first attracted international attention after receiving the first prize at the 2019 Ferruccio Busoni Piano Competition in Italy, is not visiting South Africa for the first time. This is however his first invitation to serve on the faculty of the SICMF. Ivanov has given critically acclaimed recitals and concerto performances in Japan, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, South Africa, the UK and Poland.

Among others, artists from past editions of the SICMF that have captured the hearts audiences include Daniel Roland, Nicolas Dautricourt, Madeline Adkins and Andrey Baranov (violin), Boris Andrianov and Maja Bogdanović (cello), YaoGuang Zhai (clarinet), Dwight Parry (oboe), Marco Silva (trumpet) and Jauvon Gilliam (percussion).

Peter Martens, SICMF director, says: “No where else in South Africa will you find such a collective of internationally celebrated musicians. These people are all in demand at the world’s most prestigious chamber music festivals. When they perform right here in Stellenbosch, the atmosphere is electric and the audience response, terrific. You don’t need to go to Aspen or Verbier – Just come to Stellenbosch!”

Tickets cost from R150 to R230 for the evening concerts in the Endler Hall until Sunday July 14 from Webtickets.

SICMF student concerts, master classes and lectures also take place daily in the Fismer and Janasch halls and are free of charge for festival pass holders for the duration of the festival. For daily patrons, R30 tickets are available at the door for these events.

Visit www.sicmf.co.za for more information.