The Ruth First Jeppe Memorial Trust will host its annual fiesta at Wits University’s Linder Auditorium on Friday, 30 August with an evening of music that promises to delight audiences.
Jeppe High School for Girls plans to use the Ruth First Jeppe Fiesta to celebrate the centenary of the school as well as commemorate the life of its alumna, Ruth First.
Hosted under the masterful baton of award-winning maestro, Richard Cock this year’s line-up features World Choir Games gold medallists, Jeppe Girls’ Choir and Highland Cathedral, with a diverse programme that’ll take audiences from Grieg’s famous Piano Concerto in A minor performed by Jeppe High School for Girls’ head of music Elize Kruger to a My Fair Ladymedley of hits and the Can-Can choreographed by Loryn Lewis.
The fiesta will also see the premiere of South African composer Franco Prinsloo’s commissioned work Cantate for female voices, which celebrates the Jeppe High School for Girls’ 100th birthday.
Pianist Elize Kruger will take to the stage with violinist and Jeppe High School for Girls’ strings specialist Mia Björkman–Sun and soloists Dominique Deysel and SAMA-nominated Timothy Moloi, who returns to this special event.
There will also be performances by the Jeppe Pipe Band, South Africa’s oldest school pipe band, under Master-in-Charge Damien Pitman. Specialist vocal coach and choir master Johan Bester conducts the Jeppe Girls’ Choir and Andrew Parfitt will bring out the best of Jeppe Girls’ Orchestra.
The Jeppe Hlabelela and Marimba ensembles are also lined-up to add their captivating sounds to the evening. All performances will be accompanied by the much-loved Johannesburg Festival Orchestra, which works tirelessly towards building performers and audiences of the future.
Jeppe old girl Carolyn Steyn, of the 67 Blankets for Nelson Mandela campaign, will make a guest appearance along with other Jeppe luminaries like Dina Gonçalves.
The Ruth First Jeppe Memorial Trust was established in 2010 to pay tribute to anti-apartheid activist and journalist First, who was killed by a letter bomb in 1982. She matriculated from Jeppe High School for Girls in 1941 and, in 1949, married South African Communist party stalwart Joe Slovo. They had three children, Shawn, Gillian and Robyn.
Using First as a role model, about 56 scholarship recipients are provided with full tuition fees to enable them to obtain top-quality education at Jeppe, one of South Africa’s leading schools.
In addition to academic, extramural and leadership excellence, the young women are exposed to other role models and events that broaden their horizons and prepare them to address national challenges.
Tickets for the concert range in price from R230 to R290 and are available through Computicket. Discounted block bookings are available for 10 or more people. Telephone 011 616 5090 or email ruthfirstevents@jeppegirls.co.za for more information. Performances start at 7.30pm.
