April 30, 2003
By Lucille Davie
JOHANNESBURGERS can look forward to an exciting series of picnic concerts at the Witwatersrand Botanical Garden in Roodepoort, starting in early May. The concerts will showcase well-known professional musicians and new, young artists in beautiful, natural surroundings.
The Witwatersrand Botanical Garden, some 30 kilometres west of the city centre in Roodepoort, is one of a network of eight botanical gardens around the country. It consists of around 300 hectares of landscaped and natural veld areas, planted with only indigenous trees and 600 species of indigenous flowering plants and shrubs.
These annual concerts, referred to as the Sappi Sunday Picnic Concert series, is sponsored by Sappi and supported by Classic FM radio, and consists of 11 concerts to be held from 11 May to 24 September.
"The Sappi Sunday Picnic Concert [series] is also an ideal opportunity to feature local talent, and offers the public the chance to appreciate the beauty and enjoyment that can be derived from both music and nature," says Andre Oberholzer, Sappi Corporate Affairs and Communications Manager.
The first concert on 11 May is entitled Movies' Greatest Music - from Casablanca to Moulin Rouge, and features four prominent South African entertainers: Charl van Heyningen, Lisa Melman, Andre-Jacques van der Merwe and Chris Harper.
Subsequent concerts include a debut appearance of The Promenade Ensemble, a classical ensemble playing well-known show tunes, famous tangos and popular hits; The Swing Tones Big Band, a swing band led by Ted Parrett; Duo 2000, a harp and symphonic accordion duo; the ever-popular guitar duo of Steve Newman and Tony Cox; and A Celebration of Choral Music featuring the talented Imilonji KaNtu Choral Society. The season ends with "The Buskaid Soweto String Project, a developmental youth orchestra under the direction of Rosemary Nalden.
The entrance fee for the concerts is R20 for adults and R10 for scholars, students, senior citizens and members of the Wits Botanical Society. Children under six go in free. All concerts run from 1pm to 3pm and no booking is required. You're invited to bring along your picnic basket and blanket but no fires or braais are permitted.
