Durban - Acclaimed Durban trumpeter Cathy Peacock and pianist Dr Andrew Warburton will present a recital at St Thomas Church, the second in a series of chamber recitals post lockdown.
Peacock, sub principal trumpet with the KZN Philharmonic Orchestra and leader of Platform Jazz, will play a variety of pieces for the instrument including famous trumpet voluntaries at the concert on Sunday, October 25 at 11am.
“I’m excited. We’re performers,” Peacock said of the chance to get on stage. “The last six months I’ve been playing a lot of tennis to fill my time, but performance is what we do – it’s our great purpose in life.
“It’s been six months of doing nothing and now it’s hectic, which is great,” says Peacock.
She has been working with the chamber ensemble of the Youth Orchestra and has organised a couple of outdoor concerts in Kloof and Hillcrest.
The KZNPO is starting to rehearse and doing educational videos, she says. “There are 40 people all spaced out on the Playhouse Opera stage.”
She has also been Zoom-teaching her students, some of whom will perform in the concert.
She will also play a few pieces for trumpet and organ accompanied by Mervyn Payne, resident organist at St Thomas.
“We’ve played at a number of weddings in the past. It’s also the best organ in Durban at the moment,” she says.
She promises the programme will be “fresh and vibey”, taking in pieces people will know and others they will enjoy. Purcell’s Trumpet Voluntary and Clarke’s Prince of Denmark’s March feature, as does the Trumpeter’s Lullaby by Anderson.
“Apart from two slowish pieces in the middle, the rest is brassy and exciting,” Peacock promises.
Warburton will perform two piano solos – Beethoven’s Rondo in C and a Spanish dance by Granodos. And sticking to the Spanish theme, the two will perform Taurus the Bull, “a descriptive and flamboyant Spanish dance”, Peacock says
Trombone student Lance Leslie-Smith will perform an avant garde concerto for bass trombone originally written for tuba, while Peacock’s trumpet students Andrew Ward and Richard Kruse will perform accompanied by Ward’s father, John, the resident organist of St James.
She also dispels fears that brass instruments can spread the virus. “They’ve done blowing experiments on brass instruments and only the sound waves come out of the bell, so we’re not spurting forth Covid germs,” Peacock said.
Tickets are R100, R80 for pensioners and students, and they must be pre booked.
WhatsApp Peacock on 082 349 8362. She appeals to patrons to arrive early so all Covid-19 protocols can be maintained.
The Independent on Saturday