Rademan, 21, who is currently completing her BMus in Performance at the University of Cape Town, won a R160 000 scholarship in the Western Art Music category for her suite of performances that included Scarlatti's Sonata in E Major and Ravel's La Valse, as well as two pieces by South African composers Hendrik Hofmeyr and Roelof Temmingh.
The award, as well as a R10 000 travel allowance, will enable this gifted young classical pianist to study towards a postgraduate qualification at an accredited international music institution.
UNISA's ZK Matthews Hall was also swinging to the smooth sounds of Petersen, 31, who clinched the Jazz/Popular Music scholarship to the same value. Petersen is already an accomplished jazz pianist who has taught and performed widely in South Africa and abroad, particularly in Scandinavia.
He dazzled the adjudicators with one of his own compositions, Cape Doctor (for Robbie Jansen), as well as Antonio Carlos Jobim's Agua de Beber and Bud Powell's Hallucinations. Paul Hanmer's Simple Song, specially commissioned by SAMRO Endowment for the National Arts as a quick-study test piece for the final round of the scholarships competition, completed his quartet of performances.
The music lovers at the ZK Matthews Hall were also treated to outstanding performances by the two runners-up, who each receive R40 000: Gareth Edward Ross, 23, in the Western Art Music genre; and Bokani Dyer, also 23, in the Jazz/Popular Music category.
SAMRO CEO Nicholas Motsatse said that the SAMRO Overseas Scholarships afforded young musicians the valuable opportunity to be exposed to different styles, cultures and ways of doing things in the international music arena. "Growth comes through cross-pollination, and they can then come home and share what they have learned."
A special award was given to panellist Diane Coutts, in recognition of a lifetime of devotion to excellence in music. Accompanists Melvin Peters and Elna van der Merwe were also honoured for their service to the SAMRO Overseas Scholarships competition over the years.
Go to www.samro.org.za for more information.
