In perfect harmony with this month’s exhibition theme Out The Box, Salon Hecate is featuring something different and very special: a pop-up poetry reading and musical performance on Friday, 21 April. The prize-winning poet Fiona Zerbst will read works of hers that have been set to music (flute and guitar) by Cape Town musicians and composers Juliet Wootton and Alexandros Vavatzanidis. Poetry and music lovers alike are in for a unique treat, and we’re very grateful to this trio for kindly offering to perform for us.
So come and start your weekend with some soul-soothing. Please join us for a glass of wine, beautiful words and notes (see what I did there).
Date and time: 21 April, 5.30 for 6 until 7pm. All are welcome, and entrance is free (although donations are welcome — these go to the running costs of the gallery).
About the artists
Fiona Zerbst is a writer and journalist who has published five volumes of poetry: In Praise of Hotel Rooms (2020), Oleander (2009), Time and Again (2002), the small zone (1995) and Parting Shots (1991). She collaborated with Professor Hendrik Hofmeyr on the libretto for his opera Saartjie, which premiered in 2022. She is currently working on a new opera with composer Juliet Wootton.
Juliet Wootton is a composer and chamber musician, as well as a music theory and flute teacher. She completed her Masters in music composition in 2022, under the supervision of Professor Hendrik Hofmeyr. Her compositional interests lie in writing for the voice, specifically in the form of the art song and opera. As such, many of her works are inspired by written texts. Her compositions range from orchestral, to chamber, to works written for solo instrumentals.
Alexandros Vavatzanidis is a guitarist and composer. He holds a B.Mus degree (2021) and is currently completing his Masters in Music at UCT. His works have been performed both nationally and internationally by a variety of ensembles. He also teaches guitar at Micklefield, Oakhurst, and Springfield Girls Schools, and works as a studio musician, and occasionally as a conductor.
Thank you I will be attending 21st April.
Thank you for the awe-inspiring, masterful versatility of the poetry readings of, and by, Fiona Zerbst.
The musical interpretations thereof were superb.
A perfect treatment for the whole being, – at the end of a load-shedding-riddlied week.