A group of five talented young musicians from the Free State have shown what they are made of by excelling at the 2021 National Youth Music Competition in Cape Town. They finished among the prize winners by delivering impressive performances during the event, held from 6 to 11 December.
They are Willem Naudé (19), Danielle Ceronio (18), Pieter Joubert (19), Karlin Kock (19) and Kagiso Ramosa (20). The trio – Naudé (cello), Ceronio (cello) and Joubert (piano) – reached the semifinal, while Ramosa (woodwind) and Kock (piano) received the Michael Masote prize of R2 000. Joubert, scooped one of the four runner-up prizes.
In total, 26 finalists who had been chosen from 45 entrants from across the country competed over four rounds, and each performed a vast repertoire of works from different style periods. The final was adjudicated by eight esteemed music experts.
Gerhard Joubert (19), a pianist and second-year music student at the University of Cape Town (UCT), walked away with the sought-after first prize of R30 000 and the gold medal. He also bagged first prize in the piano category, plus two other prizes: for the best performance of a South African work in any round, as well as R5 000 for the shared best performance of a concerto in the final round.
The silver medal and R12 500 prize money went to Eike Coetzee (19), a violin player and matriculant at the Musikgymnasium Schloss Belvedere in Germany. He was also the strings category winner and won R5 000 together with Joubert for the best performance of a concerto in the final round.
In addition, Coetzee was honoured with the Polina Burdukova prize of R5 000 for the best performance by a string instrumentalist of a work by a Russian composer.
Flautist Daniël Spies (15), from Roodepoort in Gauteng took the bronze medal and R8 000 prize money. He also won the woodwind category, receiving a silver medal and R5 000.
Kyrah Adams (15), a learner at Paarl Gimnasium, walked away as the winner of the other orchestral instruments category, playing the xylophone or marimba.
Last year, the competition celebrated 37 years of music excellence.
“Despite the ominous cloud of the global Covid-19 pandemic, these rising stars have raised the bar for the competition. All 26 finalists excelled in their own right,” said Michael Maas, founder of the competition and chairman of the National Youth Music Foundation.
. . .these rising stars have raised the bar for the competition – Michael Maas
