People of Note

Rodney Trudgeon’s guest on People of Note was Adrienne Haan who is hailed as an exceptional song interpreter with a grand voice and an entertainer of the highest calibre. Adrienne tours internationally with her show Tehorah in which she commemorates the Holocaust. Now she has brought this show to South Africa along with other productions such as a lecture on Degenerate Music and an evening of Fren...

On the first edition of People of Note for 2025, we’ll be celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Cape Town Concert Series which is an integral part of Cape Town’s music scene, featuring as it does some of this country’s finest musicians as well as international artists, all of whom are superb chamber musicians. I invited Louise Howlett, the General Manager of the Cape Town Concert Series into the...

The Pieter Toerien production of My Fair Lady is proving to be incredibly popular and is playing to packed houses. And, rightly so because it is an epic production in every way. Rodney Trudgeon's guest on People of Note this week is Mark Richardson who plays the iconic role of Alfred P Doolittle in a true tour de force which brings the house down!

Rodney Trudgeon's guest on People of Note this week is Patric Solomon, who is the Executive Director of Molo Songololo, a registered and designated non profit organisation that promotes the rights and protection of children. It also facilitates children's participation in public decision making.

This week on People of Note, Rodney Trudgeon will be talking to David Watkyns, a singer-songwriter, producer, teacher, actor and SAMA Award winner. David's songs are often described as nostalgic, catchy melodies with soaring lyrics, and his solo album No Other Love won him a SAMA Award in the category Best Produced Album. David is also known for his performances with Arno Carstens and the Springbo...

Rodney Trudgeon's guest on People of Note this week is the South African born viola player, educator and philanthropist Louise Lansdown who is serving as Head of Strings at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester and Professor of Viola at the Yehudi Menuhin school. Louise also directs two major viola competitions in the UK and has been in Cape Town to play principal viola with the Mzanzi...

One of the undoubted highlights of the forthcoming festive season is the Pieter Toerien production of My Fair Lady, the musical that for years has been a huge favourite. Craig Urbani will play Professor Henry Higgins and the role of Eliza Doolittle is being shared by Brittany Smith and Leah Mari. Rodney Trudgeon spoke to both Elizas for People of Note this week. My Fair Lady opens on the 18th of D...

Rodney Trudgeon’s People of Note this week features an inspiring conversation with Bernado Oostehuizen, a former addict who has transformed his life and now dedicates himself to helping others do the same. As the head of the West Coast Skills Centre, Bernado equips individuals with essential skills to build a brighter future, making his story a powerful testament to resilience, hope, and the impac...

People of Note this week takes the form of a tribute to one of South Africa’s most distinguished singers and singing teachers. A year ago Rodney Trudgeon spoke to Sarita Stern about her long career and about her recently published book. Sarita died recently and so we’ve decided to rebroadcast that interview in which she talks about her career and the tragedy that struck her as she was about to mak...

Rodney Trudgeon’s guest on People of Note this week is the young South African composer Braam Du Toit. Braam is also a choral conductor and is the recipient of a number of awards and accolades He stated he has "always been interested in combining music with other art forms," and that he finds "the reciprocal influence between music, visuals and performance intriguing and exciting."

An exciting new play has opened at the Theatre on the Bay. It’s called My Brilliant Divorce, written by Geraldine Aron and stars Kate Normington. It’s a one woman show during which Kate has to take many other parts and it’s described as a tragic/comic exploration in the world of a newly divorced woman after 20 years of marriage with searing humour, slapstick comedy self-analysis and drama.

Rodney Trudgeon’s guest on People of Note this week is Maria Du Toit, the South African and also now Dutch clarinettist who is internationally in demand as a soloi8st and Chamber musician. Maria was principal clarinet with the Cape Philharmonic, before marrying the Dutch conductor Arjan Tien and moving to Holland. In the previous symphony season, Maria was here to perform two 20th century Clarinet...

Rodney Trudgeon’s guest on People of Note this week is a man who is something of an institution in Afrikaans music. Jannie Du Toit is a singer songwriter who has had a long and distinguished career in the world of music. He enjoyed a 25 year collaboration with the accompanist Christa Steyn and has been won numerous awards. He remains hugely involved in shows and composing with a long list of produ...

A new ballet company here in Cape Town is called Cape Ballet Africa and they’ve just had their inaugural season at the Baxter called SALT. Diane van Schoor has been appointed Guest Teacher and Patron of the new company and she brings a life of experience as a ballet dancer and now teacher who has won many awards, including the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Cecchetti Council of America.

Rodney Trudgeon’s guest on People of Note this week is Clive Ridgway who is a songwriter, musician, music producer, author and teacher. He has composed songs for many of South Africa’s most successful recording artists and has performed both locally and internationally. He also runs the Cape Town School of Songwriting and the AFDA School for the Creative Economy

David Kramer’s hugely successful musical Orpheus in Africa is being repeated at the Artscape Theatre and David has reworked it to be produced with Cape Town Opera. It’s now called Orpheus McAdoo and stars Brittany Smith and Conroy Scott with the Cape Town Opera Chorus and opens on 18 October. Rodney Trudgeon invited David Kramer into the People of Note studio to talk about this exciting project.

A book which is proving to be invaluable to lovers of contemporary music in South Africa is called History of Contemporary Music of South Africa. Similar to an encyclopaedia, the book has a wealth of information on artists, bands, composers and performers with many photographs. It was written by Garth Chilvers and Tom Jasiukowicz and I invited Garth Chilvers to the People of Note studio to discuss...

The fascinating way our ears operate is the subject of this week’s People of Note. I’ll be talking to James Loock, Professor of ENT at Tygerberg Hospital, and Jenny Perold an audiologist also at Tygerberg about the remarkable technology of Cochlear Implants, that allows severely and profoundly deaf people to hear again.

Four of the concerts in the current symphony season with the Cape Town Philharmonic are being conducted by the Dutch conductor Arjan Tien. Arjan is no stranger to South Africa and, apart from the concerts he’s conducting, he is one of the judges of the 6th SA Conductor’s Competition. Arjan has selected an unusual and very interesting series of programmes for the season and Rodney trudgeon invited...

Opera UCT is going to be the first opera company in the world to present a fully staged performance of a lost opera by Donizetti, Dalinda. The score was only discovered in 2019 and has been meticulously reconstructed As my guest on People of Note this week, the conductor Jeremy Silver will explain. Jeremy is globally recognised for conducting lesser-known Donizetti masterpieces and he was especial...

I wonder if you remember the name Gordon Oliver. Among other things he was Mayor of Cape Town from 1989 to 1991 during which he was privileged to welcome Nelson Mandela to the Cape Town City Hall the day he was released from prison. He also took part in the famous September 1989 march in Cape Town. Gordon has written a book called Overcoming Life’s Challengers – a personal memoir of a Cape Town Ma...

Rodney Trudgeon’s guest on People of Note this week is Adele Kirsten, who is the director of a Gun Free South Africa. Adele was a founding member of Gun Free South Africa, but she has been a non-violent, social justice activist in South Africa for some 40 years and has also written various books on the subject.

Tennessee Williams’s famous play, A Street Car Named Desire will open at the Theatre on the Bay on the 14th August. It is being presented by Lamta – The Luitingh Alexander Musical Theatre Academy who’s recent success with Spring Awakening brought the amazing success story of this company to a wide audience. The director of Streetcar is Prof Christopher Weare and I invited him to the People of Note...

Rodney Trudgeon’s guest on People of Note this week is a South African academic currently working in Norway. Alene Mari Holder is a writer, musicologist and opera singer and her interests include feminist studies of 17th and 18th Century opera including the operatic trouser role tradition and on cross gender casting in Vivaldi’s operas. Alene is also an Afrikaans novelist and poet.

One of the most dramatic of the Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas is The Yeoman of The Guard, which is set in the Tower of London in the 16th Century. It was premiered in London in 1888 and ran for a record 423 performances causing it to be called a true English, Dramatic Opera. G&S Cape Town will be staging this opera at the Artscape Opera House from 10 August and I invited the music director and...