Cape Town’s finest young musicians are taking their bows to Khayelitsha’s streets, bringing live orchestral music to the community for mahala!
Cape Town, South Africa (27 May 2026) – To mark Youth Day this year, the talented musicians of the Cape Town Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, along with the Cape Town Philharmonic Youth Wind Ensemble – the two leading orchestral ensembles in South Africa – will be hosting another free concert!
Led by conductors Liam Burden and Charlene Verster, the young musicians will deliver a programme of light classics and film music.
The ticket-free concert is set to be held in Khayelitsha on June 13, three days before the national public holiday is observed. The event will take place at the KwaMfundo Secondary School Hall in Harare at 1 pm.
These community and school concerts, along with weekly theory and practical lessons hosted by the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra’s Youth and Education Development programme, act as a gateway to greater things for Cape Town’s youth.
The programme teaches the benefits of music and mastering an instrument to youngsters from Grade R to university level.
“Several hundred young people from the west coast to the Khayelitsha, Nyanga and the city have benefited from weekly theory and practical lessons at the Gardens Commercial High School and performing in ensembles from the Masidlale groups who are taught in their mother tongue to the junior band, the three string ensembles and the CPYWE and CPYO.”
On Youth Day itself, observed on 16 June, the Cape Town Youth Orchestra led by conductor Burden will host another concert at the Baxter Concert Hall. Presented by Aviva Pelham, it’ll showcase the 70 musicians of SA’s flagship youth orchestra, from strings to percussion. For this one, tickets are available for up to R120.
The programme includes light classics like Leroy Anderson’s ‘Bugler’s Holiday’, film music from Frozen, The Lion King, and Pirates of the Caribbean, and world music such as Lord of the Dance, Miriam Makeba, and Jerusalema. Find out more about the Baxter concert here.
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