The biennial Stellenbosch International Piano Symposium will be held at the Stellenbosch University Konservatorium between 25-29 March. This highlight of the local music calendar will celebrate its 10th iteration in 2026. Through the years Symposium audiences came to enjoy debut performances by international pianists like Antonio Pompa-Baldi and Emanuil Ivanov.
In addition to presenting top notch solo piano concerts every evening during the Symposium, audiences will be treated to the ever-popular Piano Extravaganza featuring 10 simultaneous pianos on Sunday 29 March.
The Stellenbosch International Piano Symposium provides a space for local pianists and teachers to network
Participants will once more enjoy unprecedented access to public master classes, lessons and lectures from local and international faculty, while the public can attend all events with specially tailored day pass packages or tickets for evening concerts.
Since 2012 the Symposium partnered with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra to present the Hennie Joubert Piano Competition during the same week. This extends the symposium experience into an opportunity for advanced young pianists to develop their craft by performing in a world-class piano competition.
The final round will be held on 28 March in the Endler Hall, conducted by the up-and-coming young conducting star, Jacobus de Jager.
The first 2 rounds are free to the public and will be held on 23 and 24 March in the Endler Hall. Audiences are encouraged to make space in their diaries to come and listen to participants in an especially strong competitive year.
The 10th Stellenbosch International Piano Symposium will expand by also including a junior category, catering to pianists of grade 4 level and above.
All pianists can additionally choose to receive lessons and master classes in solo or collaborative genres. As a major first, the symposium will also welcome Jazz participants, catering to a growing trend for musicians to cross into other genres.
Jazz participants can look forward to work with major artists such as Andrew Lilley, Melvin Peters and Ramon Alexander.
The Bulgarian pianist, Ludmil Angelov will make his Symposium debut during his first concert tour to South Africa. Having performed at all major concert halls internationally, he built a fine reputation around the works of Chopin, performing several cycles of the composer’s complete works.
A crowd favourite, fellow Bulgarian pianist Emanuil Ivanov, will return for his second symposium while audiences will also get to meet renowned Estonian pianist Kärt Ruubel, known across Europe as soloist and collaborative musician.
The opening event for the Symposium will kick off on 25 March with the public unveiling of a new artwork by renowned artist Gavin Rain.
A free public performance of Peter Louis van Dijk’s “The Selfish Giant” (for orchestra, choir, narrator and soloists) in front of the US Konservatorium building, will be followed by a piano recital in the Endler Hall by the exciting young South African pianist, Leo Gevisser.
Participants have until 28 February to apply for the Junior category and 2 March for the Classical/Jazz categories.
Observers can buy day pass packages on the symposium website.
Check out these links for more information about the Stellenbosch International Piano Symposium:
- Tickets: Via Webtickets
- Queries: concerts@sun.ac.za
- Website: www.stellenboschsymposium.com
- Schedule: View Schedule
- Facebook: facebook.com/pianosymposium
- Instagram: @pianosymposium_official
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