Alumni concert a toast to UCT talent

As deputy vice-chancellor Professor Thandabantu Nhlapo put it, the UCT Alumni Concert last Thursday was no time to pretend to be modest. Rather, the event was a chance to show off just some of the talent that has passed through the university's South African College of Music (SACM) in recent years. That included, on the classical music side, soprano Sibongile Mngoma and pianist François du Toit, backed up by the UCT Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Alexander Fokkens. On the jazz side of the interval, out filed the award-winning Marcus Wyatt on trumpet and flugelhorn, guitar maestro Selaelo Selota and diva Judith Sephuma. The versatile Mngoma returned to the stage to do a few jazz pieces. As did the symphony orchestra, which doubles as the UCT Symphonic Jazz Orchestra, bumped up with a few extra performers like Professor Mike Rossi on tenor sax, Dr Andrew Lilley on piano and Darryl Andrews on guitar, and conducted by Associate Professor Mike Campbell. The event offered, as interest in tickets showed, a rare opportunity to see some of South Africa's most celebrated musicians in one concert hall.