Purpur Festival

14/10/2024

Next week I'm headed up to Amsterdam for a very special concert of Christina Viola Oorebeek's music. This is her 80th birthday year and in honour of that landmark, a performance of her four-part cycle "Book of Samples" (2021-2023) will be given at Splendor on 25 October. Two of the pieces are performed live with instruments, the other two are music videos with electronic/fixed media scores. "mergers/transitions" was presented in Cape Town in 2022 at the final Purpur Festival I curated. This is the first time all four pieces will be given as a cycle. Looking hugely forward to the occasion and hanging out in Amsterdam for a few days.

Bart de Vrees presenteert: 25/10 Christina Viola Oorebeek: BOOK of SAMPLES kaleidoscopic:klanken:kleuren:patronen Een avontuur van nieuwe klanken en beelden - gelaagd, repetitief, golvende patronen en kleurpaletten. Met BOOK of SAMPLES (2021-2023) duikt componist Christina Viola Oorebeek voor het ee...

04/09/2024

It's Bruckner's 200th anniversary today, so I made a compilation - vertically - of the slow movements of his nine symphonies. I supposed it's a kind of found object. I think Bruckner is more essential now than ever. His is the music we desperately need in the 2020s.

A 200th anniversary present for Anton Bruckner

07/08/2024

Today I received the recording of my Cello Sonata (Hours with the Masters) played at the Beethoven-Haus Bonn two months ago. It's fabulous to hear it again, played by these two wonderful young musicians, Roger Morelló Ros and Vittoria Quartararo. And I wanted to share it with you all immediately.

Michael Blake (born Cape Town, 1951): Sonata for violoncello and piano - "Hours with the Masters"I. Allegro misterioso 0:00II. Scherzo 5:49III. Fluente 8:52I...

01/06/2024

Hot on the heels of its first concert performance, my Cello Sonata will be performed again, this time in the Beethoven-Haus Bonn, which will connect the piece with its origins. The Bridgetower Project's series on Diversity and Discrimination concludes with this concert, which takes its title from the Cello Sonata's subtitle "Hours with the Masters". It will be performed on this occasion by Roger Morelló Ros (cello) and Anna Khomichko (piano), and will include the Beethoven Op 69 Cello Sonata which plays a key role in my work. In addition my good friend Stephanus Muller, director of Africa Open Institute, will give a talk about the piece, and I will be travelling up to Bonn myself, thanks to the Beethoven-Haus and Stellenbosch University's VC.