The Old Diocesan Issue 13 - Magazine - Page 31
MUSIC & ENTERTAINMENT
THE ROUNDUP
ALL THE RIGHT NOTES
An attendee of Bishops Prep in
the 2010s, acclaimed pianist Leo
Gevisser made his debut with the
Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra
when he was just 12 years old. He
later relocated to the US, where he
obtained a master’s degree from
Columbia University in New York.
Like Paul du Toit (see page 28),
Leo has made a success of splitting
his time between North America
and home. In New York, he’s been
invited to perform solo recitals as
part of the Sparkill Concert Series
and at Yale School of Music’s New
Music New Haven series.
Since 2022, he has regularly
been invited to tour as a recitalist
across South Africa, and as a soloist
with all our major orchestras. He
joined the piano faculty for the
20th anniversary of the Stellenbosch
International Chamber Music Festival
in 2025, appearing as a soloist with
the Alumni Orchestra. He was also on
the faculty of the 2026 Stellenbosch
International Piano Symposium, and
performed a recital.
This August, he reunited with the
Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra
to play Ravel’s Piano Concerto at
City Hall.
From the start of his musical
career, Leo has constantly been
involved with the CPO’s Masidlale
grassroots project, an outreach
programme teaching orchestral
instruments to underprivileged
children in the townships around
Cape Town. He has donated a portion
of his performance fees to Masidlale
since he was 13 years old.
In March, young playwright Will Makin
(2020K) brought his high-energy
sports drama Gloves Off to Cape
Town, following a sold-out debut
in Rotterdam. Telling the story of
childhood friends turned bitter boxing
rivals, the play ran at the Star Theatre
in District Six. Ahead of the run,
Will discussed the play with Pippa
Hudson on her CapeTalk show.
Will tells us he is currently taking
a gap year, travelling the world.
To another Will: a regular headliner
in these pages, Will Linley (2019K)
has been as busy as ever, making
music, touring, winning awards,
getting global playtime on a massive
streaming show… Older ODs may
not know much about it, but Prime
Video’s college soap Off Campus is
a big deal, and Will’s track “Holding
the Line” soundtracks Episode 6 –
cue plenty of playlist-hunting on
social media. On the awards front, in
August he picked up Best Pop Album
for Don’t Cry Because It’s Over at the
32nd South African Music Awards
at Sun City, an amazing accolade.
In July, The Masque Theatre
presented an evening of two live-stage
audio drama murder mysteries: To Kill
a Hadeda and Crows. The latter, written
by Ian-Malcolm Rijsdijk (1991B) and
set against a backdrop he knows well
– birding in Cape Town – was a darkly
comic, sharply written piece of theatre.
Ian tells us there will be more to come.
To celebrate the 70th birthday of
award-winning local composer Grant
McLachlan (1973F), a tribute was
hosted by the South African College
of Music at the Baxter Theatre Centre
in August. Drawn from decades of his
work and performed by current and
former staff, students and guests, the
programme featured the premiere of
a new cello and piano work written
for and performed by his daughter
Nicola McLachlan. Grant is currently
a composition lecturer at UCT.
And as we were going to print,
South African theatre lovers were
dusting off their ABBA albums in
anticipation of the new Mamma Mia!
run, in which Paul du Toit (1992W) has
a leading role. For more, turn the page.
Our OD entertainers have been busy, as can be
seen by the show posters – and Will Linley’s
award-winning-album cover.
THE OLD DIOCESAN | 27
