Sunday, April 16, 2023

70th Birthday Concert for Péter-Louis van Dijk in the Endler Auditorium, Stellenbosch University

If you live in Cape Town and go to an evening concert in Stellenbosch, perhaps at the famous Endler Auditorium, you want to be there on time and perhaps stay the night afterwards so that you don’t have to drive home on the motorway in the dark

We had a very special concert to go to; a celebration of the 70th Birthday of an old friend, composer Péter Louis van Dijk, conducted by his son Xandi van Dijk. Lynne was best friends with Péter's first wife, Susi Waldmann. They met at Girl Guides and she came to know Peter and the boys better when she returned to South Africa from England in 1993. Sadly, Susi died in 2000

Peter has since remarried, to Junita, whom we have both come to know. They live in Port Elizabeth so we haven’t seen each other for too long. We tried to find affordable accommodation in Stellenbosch, but it was Graduation time at Stellenbosch University and the city was full

The Ender Auditorium, which has excellent acoustics

Gathering in the foyer, we met a couple of people we know and another who recognised us!

Time to take our seats and, fortuitously, Lynne had booked seats very close to where Péter was sitting in his wheelchair

The Stellenbosch University Symphony Orchestra "was founded by Prof Eric Rycroft in 1981
The aim of the orchestra is to provide music students with first-hand training for their profession,
as well as offer talented musicians studying other courses, experience in symphonic orchestral playing

They have an impressive organ, useful for the Saint-Saëns organ concerto (one of Lynne’s favourites)
All links to musical pieces are by kind permission of Xandi van Dijk

The programme


Conductor Xandi van Dijk about to conduct the first piece, About Nothing, which has an unusual choral beginning

He didn’t use a baton to conduct, just his whole body, full of rhythm and music

Xandi getting ready to play the piece his father wrote for him, Sarabande for Strings, on his viola
It brought so many happy memories and some very sad ones for Lynne; she had tears streaming down her face

If you want to hear some of the beautiful music, click on the links from Xandi van Dijk's Facebook page
The Mozart Adagio from Clarinet Concerto in A Major solo by family member Heidri Faber,
who now plays in an orchestra in Oslo, was sublime

The orchestra was supported by the Vox Chamber Choir for the performance of San Gloria
Huge applause for this piece and for the Brahms where the first movement was rather rumbunctious
and the last, and most familiar movement; the orchestra played like angels

It was time for some fun

Renowned composer Peter Louis van Dijk at 70

Matthijs van Dijk joins his brother Xandi to perform a narration for the finale of Musicians of Bremen


A much-performed piece, written by Péter Louis van Dijk many years ago when the boys were young
and the audience was asked to join in with the choir for part of a song in the programme
The performance was very lively

The joy of singing continued as we all joined in to sing Happy Birthday to Peter


A celebratory birthday hug and kiss for his father
after a splendid performance by Conductor Xandi van Dijk and the orchestra and choir

A hug from son Matthijs

The pleasure of receiving some gifts

Peter very happy with his present of some wine

and a hug and kiss from Peter's wife Junita

Xandi with his young son, who reminds Lynne very much of her friend Susi

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