French & Russian Romances at St John's College

Werner van Blerk, tenor, is a resident of Stellenbosch,

and works as an independent architect and interior designer.

Werner is passionate about the French and Russian Classical Music repertoire,

and is also dedicated to performing compositions by French and Russian composers

of the mid-nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries—a genre and period

of Classical Music that lie particularly close to his heart.

The poetry of these compositions explores Love in all of its incarnations:

The innocence of the ingénue, the intrigue of new romance,

all-consuming passion, ravenous jealousy,

and the devastation of love lost.

This is a theme we can all relate to, and the programme is sure to touch

the heart of anyone who has experienced the complexities of life.

Werner will be accompanied by award-winning Portuguese pianist

José Dias, who has been living in South Africa since 2001.

José is active as a soloist, chamber musician, vocal accompanist,

and musical director at all major concert venues and Arts Festivals in South Africa.

He is also a part-time lecturer at the UCT South African College of Music.

Recent international performances have taken José to many prestigious halls,

including the Berliner Philharmonie in Berlin, the Münchner Philharmonie in Munich,

the Beethovenhalle in Bonn, and the Festspielhaus in Baden-Baden.

"This soul, which laments

and this dormant moan,

it is ours, is it not?

Is it not mine?—tell me—and yours,

whose humble anthem we breathe

on this mild evening, so very quietly?"

 Paul Verlaine, French poet

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