Entries are now open for students to participate in the 20th Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival (SICMF) to be hosted in Stellenbosch in July this year.
This annual music festival was was first held in 2004 and is the brainchild of its Artistic Director, Nina Schumann. It has taken place each year (the two empty Covid years notwithstanding) in the month of July every year since.
According to the SICMF, the festival attracts around 300 students annually, and it is the only festival of its kind in all of Africa. Last year’s SICMF saw the star-studded faculty of internationally acclaimed artists representing 17 different countries.
Professor Schumann is already hard at work compiling the faculty and concert programmes for the 20 th SICMF that will take place from July 4 to July 13 this year.
Festival Director, Peter Martens, has also been with the SICMF since its inception. He said: “Whilst we may see some great new artists on the bill, the faculty will primarily comprise artists who have made meaningful contributions to the SICMF over the last 20 years.”
Interested students are advised to submit their entries early. Entries are now open with an early bird special valid until Friday February 14.
Mr Martens said: “We are very proud of the positive contribution we are making to transformation at Stellenbosch University. We have come a long way in the last 20 years. For the last two years, most of our student participants came from the previously disadvantaged communities. In 2025 we will set aside over half a million rands for bursaries.”
Bursaries will be awarded on financial need regardless of the level of the student, provided a minimum level of proficiency is met. He said that “bursaries are also awarded on a first-come-first-serve basis, so needy students are advised to enter early.”
Prospective student participants can enter at the link: https://www.sicmf.co.za/online-entry/
Concert details will be released in the new year. Patrons are advised to visit www.sicmf.co.za for updates.
