Welgemeend Concert 2023
Once again, the Beau Soleil Piano Quartet had a sold-out performance at the Welgemeend Concert Hall on 16 June 2023! They performed Mozart’s Piano Quartet No 2 in E flat, followed by G Fauré’s Piano Quartet No 2 in g min.
“The Beau Soleil Piano Quartet had the whole Welgemeend Manor House on their feet with their magical interpretations of Mozart and Fauré’s piano quartets” – Geruan Geldenhuys, organiser.
Cape Philharmonic Spring Festival
The Beau Soleil Piano Quartet was invited to perform at the Cape Philharmonic Spring Festival at the Hugo Lambrechts Concert Hall on 4 Sept 2022. Click on the image below to access a live recording of their performance of the Piano Quartet in A min by Joaquin Turina.
Erin Hall Concert
Following on the success of their Welgemeend Concert in June, the Beau Soleil Piano Quartet repeated their successful programme of works by Schumann, Turina and Piazzola to another sold-out audience at Erin Hall on 12 August 2022. The complimentary wine was sponsored by Jakob’s Vineyards.
Welgemeend Concert
The Beau Soleil Piano Quartet performed to a sold-out audience at the inaugural concert of the Welgemeend Concert Series on 22 June 2022. Their programme consisted of Schumann’s epic Piano Quartet in E flat and works by Juaquin Turina and Piazzola.
Dane Coetzee
Dane Coetzee (cello) started playing the cello in the New Apostolic Church and later became a student at Beau Soleil Music Centre. He was a member of the CPYO and went on to graduate in cello performance studies at UCT and the US respectively. He is currently studying towards his Masters’ degree at Stellenbosch University under Peter Martens.
As a member of the Stellenbosch Graduate string quartet he won 1st prize in the National Ensemble competition. He has performed concerts and participated in the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival, The Harare International Festival of the Arts, Zimbabwe and The Festival of Music In Santa Catarina, Brazil and has embarked on tours performing in the USA, Dubai and Hong Kong. Dane has also appeared as soloist and chamber musician at the KKNK, Suidoosterfees, The National Arts Festival, Klein Karoo Klassique and has performed as soloist with the CPO, the CPYO and the Musicanti Orchestra.
Dane was a full-time cellist for the CPO for a number of years and recently left the orchestra to take up the position of cello teacher at the Beau Soleil Music Centre in Cape Town. He is also active as a solo performer, chamber musician, recording session musician and enjoys regular collaborations with various artists performing a wide range of musical genres.
Marina Louw
Marina Louw (viola) obtained a B.Mus (cum laude) at the Odeion School of Music, UFS, majoring in viola performance under the tuition of John Wille. She performed as a soloist at several Youth Music Concerto Festivals and was also a member of the National Youth Orchestra. While still a student, Marina regularly performed with faculty members in the Consortium Musicum and several chamber music recitals.
After completing her degree, Marina became a fulltime member of the National Symphony Orchestra of the SABC for a couple of years before moving to Cape Town. She furthered her studies at the University of Stellenbosch, obtaining a M.Mus (cum laude) in 2005. During this time she had several master classes in Oxford (UK) with the renowned Hungarian violinist and teacher, Kató Havas.
Marina has taught viola and didactics as a part time lecturer at the US and has been a UNISA examiner for many years. She has also adjudicated the Sanlam Primary Schools Competition and the ATKV Prelude Competition.
Marina freelanced for the CPO and other orchestras for many years and is also a keen chamber musician. She has performed with several well-known South African ensembles, such as the Odeion String Quartet and the Lyric Ensemble in concert with the internationally acclaimed violinist Phillipe Graffin. She was a member of the Cape Town Baroque Ensemble with whom she performed as a soloist in the Artscape Theatre. Marina has toured to Europe with several orchestras and joined the Cape Town String Quartet on a concert tour to Chile, South America. She has also been coaching at the annual Franschhoek Chamber Music workshop since 1998.
At present Marina is the Principal of Beau Soleil Music Centre in Cape Town, where she also heads up the String Department and teaches violin and viola.
Lucia Di Blasio-Scott
The Beau Soleil Piano Quartet is happy to welcome Lucia Di Blasio-Scott as our new violinist! Lucia is a well-known and sought after violinist in the Cape Town area and we are thrilled to have her on-board.
Lucia Di Blasio-Scott – violin
Italian born Lucia Di Blasio-Scott started her performing career at the age of six in Sanremo (Italy). She became Co-Principal of the Sanremo Symphony Orchestra in 1983. Seeking new horizons, she auditioned in Vienna for a position in the newly to be formed Natal Philharmonic Orchestra and subsequently moved to Durban where she soon was promoted to Vice-Principal First Violin. Lucia has been in Cape Town since 1993. She was a Principal Violin in the CTSO as well as the CTPO. An enthusiastic educator, Lucia has been teaching at Bishops for over 25years and as Part-Time lecturer at SACM since 2005.
Lucia is also a dedicated Chamber musician. She has performed with the Michaelis Players and with Prof. Shirley Gie’s Baroque Series 4x2. She is a member of the Cape Town Baroque Orchestra and of the School House Trio.
Lucia is the Leader and one of the founder members of the Cape Town Pops Orchestra, which has been in collaboration with the Cape Town Opera and with Richard Cock for the legendary Last Night of the Proms.
Dr Grethe Nöthling
Dr Grethe Nöthling (piano) holds a Doctorate of Music from the University of Iowa and a Master of Music from the Cleveland Institute of Music, USA. After her musical debut at age 7, performing as soloist with the Johannesburg Symphony Orchestra, she won several national music competitions, awards and bursaries including the Sanlam Music Competition (1994), ABSA National Music Competition (Piano Category: 1998), ATKV Prelude Competition (2000), Hennie Joubert National Piano Competition (2000), Lionel Bowman Beethoven Competition (2001) and UNISA Overseas Scholarship for Teachers (2003).
As a young pianist she performed as a soloist with the CPO, KZN Philharmonic and the Chamber Orchestra of South Africa. More recently she made her debut as soloist with the Free State Symphony Orchestra in 2017. Her teachers included Ella Fourie, Joseph Stanford, Daniel Shapiro, Paul Schenly and Uriel Tsachor.
Grethe is also an avid chamber musician and performed regularly with faculty and guest artists at the University of Iowa. Since her return to South Africa in 2015 she has performed at numerous music festivals across the country, including the Grahamstown Arts Festival, Vrystaat Kunstefees, Klein Karoo Klassique, Hermanus FynArts Festival and Music in the Mountains.
Grethe has served as adjudicator at the SAMRO Hubert van der Spuy, Johann Vos, Pieter Kooij and the Mabel Quick Music Competitions. In March of 2017, she was invited to present masterclasses and give a solo recital at the University of Iowa’s Piano Alumni Festival. She was also part of the Stellenbosch International Piano Symposium in 2018 presenting a lecture on ‘The Pianist’s Approach’.
She has lectured in piano and piano method at the Odeion School of Music and at the South African College of Music, UCT. In 2022 she was appointed as resident accompanist and piano educator at Beau Soleil Music Centre in Cape Town.
Piano Quartet
We are pleased to announce the re-instatement of Beau Soleil’s very own resident Piano Quartet!
With the recent arrival of talented new staff members it was possible to revive the Beau Soleil Piano Quartet once again, which in years past had a very successful and varied performing career with concerts at venues such as La Motte and Casa Labia, as well as at various music societies around the greater Cape Town area.
The new Piano Quartet consists of Dr Grethe Nöthling (piano), Lucia Di Blasio-Scott (violin), Marina Louw (viola) and Dane Coetzee (cello). The group will act as ambassadors for Beau Soleil, to increase the visibility of the Centre on the concert platform and to advertise the excellence of the performing arts’ tuition that is available at Beau Soleil Music Centre.
The new Beau Soleil Piano Quartet’s first concert appearance will be at the Welgemeend Concert Venue on 22 June, where they will be performing works by Schumann and Turina.
