The concert consists of favourite choruses from The Messiah, Judas Maccabeus and the well-loved Zadok the Priest. A selection of arias from operas like as Rinaldo, Alcina, Xerxes and Giulio Cesare will also be presented.

The group is accompanied by the Odeion School of Music Camerata (OSMC) under the direction of Xavier Cloete. The orchestra will also offer renditions of ‘The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba’ from Solomon and the Overture to the ‘Music for the Royal Fireworks’.

Dr Cupido and his colleagues in the voice faculty were all nominated for a Fiësta award for their musical direction of an opera concert at Aardklop in 2017. The North West Consort has just completed some thrilling performances that were enthusiastically received at the Wakkerstroom Music Festival in early March.

The OSMC was strategically founded by Marius Coetzee in 2012 as the Odeion School of Music’s flagship chamber orchestra with the main objective of creating a catalyst for excellence. From a pedagogical perspective, the OSMC serves as a feasible incubator to nurture fully-rounded musicians who are thoroughly prepared for the demands of their trade as orchestral musicians, soloists and conductors.

Mentorship is applied by acquiring the services of exceptionally talented young international and/or South African musicians as instructors to prepare the OSMC members preceding a concert and/or project in the longer term. The application of junior experts is validated by transversal benefits generated through the transferal of knowledge through the teaching mode of peer-to-peer instruction.

The conductor, Xavier Cloete received the Bachelor’s Degree of Music at Stellenbosch during 2011, with specialisation in bassoon solo performance and orchestral performance practice, under the watchful and experienced tutelage of Mr Richard Ingo Holland, former principal bassoon of Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra. Professor Corvin Matei was responsible for his studies and training in Orchestral Conducting.

Following a successful audition, Xavier was accepted as a member of the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra (KZNPO) in December 2011, where he commenced his responsibilities in the orchestra in January 2012.
Xavier is currently a junior lecturer in Bassoon Studies and Orchestral Conducting Studies at the University of Free State, resident conductor and artistic director of the OSM Camerata Orchestra at the University of Free State and resident conductor and artistic director at Mangaung Symphony Orchestra.

The OSM Camerata ensemble is focused primarily on the performance of new music and, during 2016, premiered the Concerto for Recorder and Harpsichord by Hendrik Hofmeyr and the Clarinet Concertino by Keith Moss during 2017.

Most recently, Xavier guided the Camerata Orchestra in winning the International Ictus Music Competition in which the orchestra was awarded overall winner in the category of University/Conservatory Orchestra.
Tickets vary from R60 to R90 and can be bought at the Conservatory 018 299 1692, NWU Puk Arts 018 299 2844, Protea Bookshop 018 297 1583 or www.artema.com.