People of Note this week takes the form of a tribute to one of South Africa’s most distinguished singers and singing teachers. A year ago Rodney Trudgeon spoke to Sarita Stern about her long career and about her recently published book. Sarita died recently and so we’ve decided to rebroadcast that interview in which she talks about her career and the tragedy that struck her as she was about to make her debut in Carmen.

Rodney Trudgeon’s guest on People of Note this week is the young South African composer Braam Du Toit. Braam is also a choral conductor and is the recipient of a number of awards and accolades He stated he has "always been interested in combining music with other art forms," and that he finds "the reciprocal influence between music, visuals and performance intriguing and exciting."

An exciting new play has opened at the Theatre on the Bay. It’s called My Brilliant Divorce, written by Geraldine Aron and stars Kate Normington. It’s a one woman show during which Kate has to take many other parts and it’s described as a tragic/comic exploration in the world of a newly divorced woman after 20 years of marriage with searing humour, slapstick comedy self-analysis and drama.

Rodney Trudgeon’s guest on People of Note this week is Maria Du Toit, the South African and also now Dutch clarinettist who is internationally in demand as a soloi8st and Chamber musician. Maria was principal clarinet with the Cape Philharmonic, before marrying the Dutch conductor Arjan Tien and moving to Holland. In the previous symphony season, Maria was here to perform two 20th century Clarinet Concerts by the South African composers David Earl and Conrad Assman. Maria speaks passionately...

Rodney Trudgeon’s guest on People of Note this week is a man who is something of an institution in Afrikaans music. Jannie Du Toit is a singer songwriter who has had a long and distinguished career in the world of music. He enjoyed a 25 year collaboration with the accompanist Christa Steyn and has been won numerous awards. He remains hugely involved in shows and composing with a long list of productions on the go at the moment.

A new ballet company here in Cape Town is called Cape Ballet Africa and they’ve just had their inaugural season at the Baxter called SALT. Diane van Schoor has been appointed Guest Teacher and Patron of the new company and she brings a life of experience as a ballet dancer and now teacher who has won many awards, including the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Cecchetti Council of America.

Rodney Trudgeon’s guest on People of Note this week is Clive Ridgway who is a songwriter, musician, music producer, author and teacher. He has composed songs for many of South Africa’s most successful recording artists and has performed both locally and internationally. He also runs the Cape Town School of Songwriting and the AFDA School for the Creative Economy

David Kramer’s hugely successful musical Orpheus in Africa is being repeated at the Artscape Theatre and David has reworked it to be produced with Cape Town Opera. It’s now called Orpheus McAdoo and stars Brittany Smith and Conroy Scott with the Cape Town Opera Chorus and opens on 18 October. Rodney Trudgeon invited David Kramer into the People of Note studio to talk about this exciting project.

A book which is proving to be invaluable to lovers of contemporary music in South Africa is called History of Contemporary Music of South Africa. Similar to an encyclopaedia, the book has a wealth of information on artists, bands, composers and performers with many photographs. It was written by Garth Chilvers and Tom Jasiukowicz and I invited Garth Chilvers to the People of Note studio to discuss how he went about researching and putting the book together.

The fascinating way our ears operate is the subject of this week’s People of Note. I’ll be talking to James Loock, Professor of ENT at Tygerberg Hospital, and Jenny Perold an audiologist also at Tygerberg about the remarkable technology of Cochlear Implants, that allows severely and profoundly deaf people to hear again.

Four of the concerts in the current symphony season with the Cape Town Philharmonic are being conducted by the Dutch conductor Arjan Tien. Arjan is no stranger to South Africa and, apart from the concerts he’s conducting, he is one of the judges of the 6th SA Conductor’s Competition. Arjan has selected an unusual and very interesting series of programmes for the season and Rodney trudgeon invited him to the People of note studio to discuss his concerts, which include the might Mahler 7th.

Opera UCT is going to be the first opera company in the world to present a fully staged performance of a lost opera by Donizetti, Dalinda. The score was only discovered in 2019 and has been meticulously reconstructed As my guest on People of Note this week, the conductor Jeremy Silver will explain. Jeremy is globally recognised for conducting lesser-known Donizetti masterpieces and he was especially selected by Opera Co-Pro to bring the full opera to life in a world premier right here in...

I wonder if you remember the name Gordon Oliver. Among other things he was Mayor of Cape Town from 1989 to 1991 during which he was privileged to welcome Nelson Mandela to the Cape Town City Hall the day he was released from prison. He also took part in the famous September 1989 march in Cape Town. Gordon has written a book called Overcoming Life’s Challengers – a personal memoir of a Cape Town Mayor and I invited him into the People of Note studio to talk about his life which includes being...

Rodney Trudgeon’s guest on People of Note this week is Adele Kirsten, who is the director of a Gun Free South Africa. Adele was a founding member of Gun Free South Africa, but she has been a non-violent, social justice activist in South Africa for some 40 years and has also written various books on the subject.

Tennessee Williams’s famous play, A Street Car Named Desire will open at the Theatre on the Bay on the 14th August. It is being presented by Lamta – The Luitingh Alexander Musical Theatre Academy who’s recent success with Spring Awakening brought the amazing success story of this company to a wide audience. The director of Streetcar is Prof Christopher Weare and I invited him to the People of Note studio to talk about this iconic play .

Rodney Trudgeon’s guest on People of Note this week is a South African academic currently working in Norway. Alene Mari Holder is a writer, musicologist and opera singer and her interests include feminist studies of 17th and 18th Century opera including the operatic trouser role tradition and on cross gender casting in Vivaldi’s operas. Alene is also an Afrikaans novelist and poet.

One of the most dramatic of the Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas is The Yeoman of The Guard, which is set in the Tower of London in the 16th Century. It was premiered in London in 1888 and ran for a record 423 performances causing it to be called a true English, Dramatic Opera. G&S Cape Town will be staging this opera at the Artscape Opera House from 10 August and I invited the music director and Production Co-ordinator, ALASTAIR COCKBURN into the People of Note studio to talk about the...

Agatha Christie’s play Witness to the Prosecution is pulling in the crowds at Theatre on the Bay. And rightly so because not only is it a superb play, but it is an excellent production with a large cast. In this week’s edition of People of Note, Rodney Trudgeon spoke to a member of the cast, Sharon Spiegel Wagner who plays the role of Romaine Vole, the wife of the accused. Sharon talks about how thrilling it is to be in the play and about the wonderful cast, as well as her many other...

Rodney Trudgeon’s guest on People of Note this week is the South African based documentary photographer, author and professional speaker Matthew Wilman who, in 2003 was commissioned to archive and document the life and times of Nelson Mandela for the Nelson Mandela Foundation. This allowed him to develop an intimate relationship with Mandela. But Matthew has also published a beautiful book of black and white photographs of ballet dances in unusual industrial settings.

My guest on People of Note this week, is a doctor who has written a book called Ice Cream – A Doctor’s Journey to Discover what Matters. This is an engaging memoir about the highs and lows of working as a medical doctor in South Africa and how, with a little help from ice cream and heavy metal music, he was able to struggle on. He’s Alistair Mcalpine and you may find his choice of music a little unusual for FMR, but he was insistend that we gave him a chance.

One of those irresistible Agatha Christie murder mysteries is about to open at the Theatre on The Bay. Witness for the Prosecution is in the form of a gripping court room drama, leaving the audience gasping with surprises as the case proceeds. The director is Alan Swerdlow and Rodney Trudgeon spoke to him on People of Note about both the difficulties and the fun of directing one of Christie’s mysteries.

I wonder whether or not you remember the tragic fire that swept through the mountain in April 2021, in the process destroying the iconic Mostert’s Mill and leaving an awful, burnt out stump. Well, three years later and with considerable support from the public as well as from overseas companies, Mostert’s Mill has been completely restored and it opened in April and will be open on each third Saturday for the public to visit. The Chairman of the Friends of Mostert’s Mill and one of the...

In People of Note this week, Rodney Trudgeon has an inspiring young guest in celebration of Youth Day. He is Charles Jansen who has risen from a life of crime, prison and drugs to become the Art centre Coordinator and training Materials Develop at the Butterfly art Project He has developed therapeutic art projects and art classes with children aged from 5 to 21.

On People of Note this week, Rodney Trudgeon will be talking to the conductor and pianist Kamal Khan who is In Cape Town to conduct Donizetti’s opera Lucia di Lammermoor for Cape Town Opera. Kamal enjoys an international career as a teacher and conductor and he has worked with most of the world’s leading opera singers at most of the world’s leading opera houses. He was also head of Opera at UCT for many year. Lucia opens at the Artscape Opera house on Friday 14 June.