Also on the programme, which will be conducted by Arjan Tien,  are Gideon Fagan’s Concert Overture and the Second Symphony by Rachmaninov, a work which Tien says has all the connections between culture, personal circumstances and global/political issues, “and forecasts the political rising unrest leading up to the 1917 revolution, (hence the hints, and dies irae theme), the memory of the “old” Russia (choral and massive bell-motives), the melancholy of his family in “exile” in Dresden while cherishing Russian values and customs.”

 This is the first of five concerts in the season and which includes two galas – Mahler Symphony no 5 celebrating Bernhard Gueller and his appointment as Conductor Laureate on Saturday, November 22, and Louis’  Legacy, a tribute to the retiring CEO of the CPO, Louis Heyneman, in an all-Tchaikovsky concert and violinist Miclen LaiPang on Thursday, December 4.  Gueller conducts both, along with the concert with Austrian pianist Philipp Scheucher and Beethoven Piano Concerto no 4 on Wednesday, November 26, while Tien also conducts the concert on November 24 with British violinist Jack Liebeck.

Jan Hugo, who is now Vocal Coach at Cape Town Opera, began his musical studies in Pretoria and made his concerto debut at the age of 12. He later trained in Italy, graduating cum laude from the Modena Conservatory and continuing his studies at the Accademia Pianistica di Imola. He holds Master’s degrees from the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Leipzig, the Conservatorio di Musica “Giuseppe Verdi” in Milan, and a specialised Master’s in fortepiano performance and research from Sorbonne University and the Paris Conservatoire.