Berlin, Admiralspalast
🇩🇪 For the first time ever, we'll give three performances on May the 21st and 22nd !!
Berlin, we’re coming !
EDO is excited to be collaborating with Mzansi Ballet to perform an original South African Ballet.
The Programme :Â
Mzansi Ballet’s The Gold Rhino of Mapungubwe
We’ll be supporting the Mzansi Ballet Foundation, a charity that was established with the primary objective of raising funds and providing support for the initiatives of Mzansi Ballet, a unique dance company that identifies and cultivates young South African talent.
We will give three performances : one on Friday 21st in the evening and 2 on the 22nd of May 2027 (one in matinee and one in the evening).
We’re looking forward to seeing you there !
Charities
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The Mzansi Ballet Foundation
This foundation was established with the primary objective of raising funds and providing support for the initiatives of Mzansi Ballet.
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Concert Guests
Conductor
Schalk van der Merwe
Schalk van der Merwe is the winner of the 2019 South African Conductor’s competition and as a result he had the opportunity to attend conducting classes with Arjan Tien at the conservatories of Maastricht and Amsterdam. He holds a master’s degree in Orchestral conducting.
Schalk has been active as conductor since 2011 and holds the positions of principal conductor of the Capital Chamber Orchestra, resident conductor of the University of Pretoria Symphony Orchestras, artistic director of the Symphony Chorus of Pretoria, and principal conductor of the Sempre Opera Company. He has also served as the associate conductor of the Pretoria Symphony Orchestra. Schalk has regular engagements with all the major orchestras in South Africa, including the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra, the Kwazulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Gauteng Philharmonic Orchestra.
He had the privilege to act as Maestro Gérard Korsten’s assistant with the Vorarlberg Symphony Orchestra in Bregenz, Austria where he toured with the orchestra. Schalk made his international conducting debut in the Bernard Haitink Hall at the conservatory of Amsterdam. He has attended numerous classes and masterclasses across Europe and locally with conductors Marin Alsop, Enrico Delamboye, Daniel Raiskin, Evgeny Bushkov and Victor Yampolsky.
Schalk is a passionate educator and teaches violin, piano and voice. He serves as a full-time lecturer at the University of Pretoria. In 2016 he launched Mustro Productions, which assembles orchestras and ensembles, stages operas and other classical music concerts to provide job opportunities for young South African musicians. As an academic, he specialises in the interdisciplinary field of personality theory and music. He is currently busy with his doctorate which explores the influence of personality traits on leadership preferences.