Musikwoche 2019

Dear Friends of the Swakopmunder Musikwoche,

Welcome to the Swakopmunder Musikwoche 2019! Despite of financial difficulties and losing our organisation director (Ailly Namupala left Namibia for a 5-year contract in Doha, Qatar), we are happy to inform you that in the end we have managed to put together a Musikwoche 2019. Christiane Berker will be organising the Musikwoche this year.

It will be quite different to the usual Musikwoche experiences you have enjoyed so far, and we were forced to make some cuts, but we felt it was more important to have a Musikwoche, even if it is smaller, than to cancel the Musikwoche for 2019.

These are the changes:

  1. The Swakopmunder Musikwoche will only last for six days this year, starting on the 8th of December at 8:30 and finishing with the final concert on the 14th of December.
  2. There will only be ONE concert on the 14th of December, including the Youth Orchestra.
  3. We will unfortunately not be able to host a Big Band this year due to cuts in the number of lecturers, so everyone joining the Musikwoche this year will have to decide if they want to play in the Youth Orchestra or the Grand Orchestra or sing in the choir.
  4. There will also not be Ensemble work as such, as we will not have an Ensemble Concert this year.
  5. There will also not be an Open-Air concert this year.
  6. By reducing the concerts, we feel that we can still oblige to our mission statement: “the provision of a music education service for all learners and educators of Namibia”. We will have five full days to focus on making music together and after a dress rehearsal on Saturday morning, we can surely present another fantastic concert to our audience.
  7. There will be no ticket pre-sales, tickets can be bought at the evening box office on Saturday.

We are very happy to have Cornelia von Kerssenbrock back again as musical director. She has fully recovered and can’t wait to enjoy six days with the theme “Let’s Go to the Opera”. She will also conduct the choir, with the two assistants Eslon Hindundu and Osmond !Owoseb. The Youth Orchestra will be in the capable hands of Hendi Krog and I hope to list the other lecturers very soon on this website, so keep looking!

Registration will hopefully start by the weekend, as soon as we have set up the online form, and we do hope to see all of you again this year in Swakopmund.

Waiting for your registrations I remain faithfully yours in music

Christiane Berker and the Musikwoche Team

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Muwo 2018

Dear Friends of the Musikwoche,

Your Musikwoche Team is now in high alert, getting the last preparations under way! As you know, registrations closed on the 21st of November and we are proud to announce that we have record numbers this year!

All lecturers are waiting for the start of Musikwoche and look forward to enjoying yet again a wonderful time, full of music, learning, laughter and fun! We from the team will see you on the 7th, if you are a participant and on the 11th for the Lecturer Concert, if you enjoy our concerts.

Please note that the musical accompaniment of the church service at the Lutheran Church in Otavi street will take place on the 9th of December! Our lecturers have put together a wonderful program, so this should be a beautiful 2nd Advent service and we look forward to joining us in our motto “Let’s Praise”.

I look forward to welcoming you all.

Your Musikwoche Team

Ailly Namupala

Organisational Director

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Swakopmunder Musikwoche 2018

Dear Musikwoche Friends,

July is traditionally the start of registrations, and this year is no exception! As of the 14th of July you will be able to register electronically, just go to “Registration“, read all the relevant information, fill in a short form and you have secured 10 days of fun, music and new friendships, all this while enhancing your musical talent!

Who is lecturing this year?
As Musical Director we welcome back Cornelia von Kerssenbrock – she has put this year under the theme “Let’s Praise”. As she very much enjoyed the MuWo choir last year, she will also be the choir master this year, as many of our Final Concert pieces will include the choir together with the Grand Orchestra.
The Youth Orchestra will be conducted by the expert hands of Hendi Krog, who is supported by Jerome Cloete for the recorder ensemble as well as two assistants from South Africa.
Nici Coleman directs the Brass Ensemble, together with experienced assistants from South Africa.
Leader of the Big Band is Professor Mike Rossi, he will also teach the saxophone ensemble.
Strings may look forward to Denise Sutton (she is also our Concert Master) and Nicole D’Oliveira, celli will be taught by Katia Sokolova. Derek Fenell will join us again for the flutes, Jenny Brand guides the clarinets and oboes and bassoons will be directed by Carin Bam. Percussion is in the expert hands of Daniel Nambassi and his assistant. We welcome a number of talented music students as assistants again, ensuring that all participants benefit greatly from small groups and possibly even a one-on-one session.

What program can we expect?
Many things in life can be praised, thus Cornelia von Kerssenbrock put together a colourful and varied program. For the Choir & Grand Orchestra we look forward to the following pieces:
G.F. Händel with the “Dixit Dominus” and F. Mendelssohn-Bartholdy with „Denn er hat seinen Engeln…“ from „Elija“ are a must, as is the praise of love, seen in Tchaikovsky’s fantasy overture “Romeo and Juliet”. We also want to praise our continent with the title music by J. Barry from “Out of Africa”, the “Sanctus” and “Benedictus” from the Missa Luba, arr. by Pater G. Haazen and the title song from the movie Amistad, “Dry Your Tears Africa” by J. Williams. We look forward to compositions by L. Bernstein, three pieces from his musical “On the Town” as well as the 1st psalm from the “Chichester Psalms”. We praise music with “All That Jazz” and we praise our world with “Protectors of the Earth”.

Concert Dates
Friday, 7 December: Start for participants
Sunday, 9 December: Musical accompaniment of the church service by lecturers of the Musikwoche
Tuesday, 11 December: Lecturer Concert
Wednesday, 12 December: Open Air Brass Concert
Thursday, 13 December: Youth & Ensemble Concert
Friday, 14 & Saturday, 15 December: Final Concert

What else is happening?
After an invitation from Cornelia von Kerssenbrock, we were able to organise a cultural exchange for three Musikwoche choir members this year! For almost three months the young singers travelled to the Opera Festival Immling at Lake Chiemsee in Germany, where they are participating in three operas as well as several concerts. The invaluable experiences they collect there will benefit all choir singers of the Swakopmunder Musikwoche, and we very much hope to find young, talented singers who are up to the challenge and want a chance at improving and expanding their talent in 2019.

Keep an eye on our website, as we add new information!

Looking forward to seeing you in December, be it as participant or member of the audience

Musical greetings

From your Musikwoche Team

Ailly, Rio & Chris

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