Shlomo Mintz for Cape Philharmonic Orchestra

The four-week season begins on 7 August, when Bernhard Gueller returns to the CPO. Music director of Symphony Nova Scotia and a frequent CPO guest conductor, Gueller will conduct the rising South African star pianist John Ntsepe, who will play Liszt's Piano Concerto no 2 in A. The main piece will be the monumental Symphony No 2 in E minor, by Rachmaninov. Also on the programme will be the Overture, Le Nozze di Figaro, by Mozart. This will be preceded by a RISE curtain-raiser at 7pm.

In the concert on 14 August, Zuill Bailey, fêted for his "compelling artistry, technical finesse, and engaging personality", will play the Cello Concerto in B minor by Dvorak, with the main piece the Brahms Symphony no 4 in E minor. The Cape Town Youth Wind Ensemble will perform the Light Cavalry overture as well. These concerts will take place at the City Hall.

One of the most prolifically recorded conductors

On the podium for the last two concerts, the Mintz concert on 21 August at Artscape Opera and the final concert on 28 August at the City Hall, will be Theodore Kuchar, one of the most prolifically recorded conductors of the last decade. The works in the Mintz concert, apart from the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, will be the Overture, Leonore, no 3, and Symphony no 6 in B minor, Pathetique, by Tchaikovsky.

The final concert will feature the brilliant young award-winning Czech pianist, Lukáš Vondrácek, who will play the First Piano Concerto by Tchaikovsky. Also on the programme are the Overture, Russlan and Ludmila by Glinka, and Scheherazade by Rimsky Korsakov.

Book at Computicket (with discounted packages) or www.cpo.org.za