23 - 25 June 2023: De Hoop’s Annual Wine, Whales, and Music

Date: 23 June 2023 at 14:00 - 25 June 2023 at 14:00

Join us for our annual Wine, Whales, and Music event this June!

Friday, 23 June 2023

16:00 Nature drive or eco boat cruise with delicious canapés and drinks (R395 per person/kids under 12 years old - half price)

18:00 Wine tasting with Bruce Jack, The Drift in the Fig Tree Restaurant

19:00 Gourmet dinner with suggested wine pairing by Bruce Jack, The Drift and “Solitary Man - the songs of Neil Diamond”. by Johan Liebenberg in the Fig Tree Restaurant

Saturday, 24 June 2023

08:00 Guided bird walk along the vlei (R195 per person kids under 12 half price)

08:00 - 10:00 Breakfast

10:00 Chocolate-making workshop with Richard von Geusau (R145 per person - children and under 12 - R70)

10:30 - 15:00 Wine and cheese tasting - enjoy a selection of wines from Bruce Jack, The Drift; Creation; La Vierge; Lomond; Maanschijn Wijn; Sijnn; Springfontein; Strandveld; Giant Periwinkle; Thelema/Sutherland as well as cheese tastings from Stonehouse Cheese; Klein River Cheese

15:00 High tea Cloete room

15:30 Brett Glasby from Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation - “Cohabiting with Marine Wildlife in the urban environment” and “Turtles of De Hoop”

16:30 Nature drive with delicious canapés and drinks (R395 per person/kids under 12 years old half price)

19:00 Whale time serenade for strings and flute - featuring Irina Tsoniff, Ivo Ivanov on violin and Vladimir Ivanov on viola, Peta Ann Holdcroft on cello and Malané Hofmeyr-Burger on flute - with dinner in Fig Tree Restaurant

Sunday, 25 June 2023

08:00 Breakfast

09:30 Guided marine walk at Koppie Alleen (where you’ll find the coastline exactly as it ought to be - unspoilt and brimming with life) watching the whales with Brett Glasby and our De Hoop guides

Rates: From R2,580 per person sharing an equipped cottage to R6,800 per person in a suite. The rate includes dinner, bed and breakfast, music, wine and cheese tasting, Saturday presentation and high tea. The rate excludes drinks.

JOHAN LIEBENBERG PRESENTS “Solitary Man - the songs of Neil Diamond.”

Namibian-born Johan Liebenberg’s name is synonymous with success, having enjoyed sold-out performances of his Neil Diamond Tribute across the length and breadth of South Africa. He has performed in myriads of Barnyard productions as vocalist and guitarist and has never looked back since his highly-acclaimed “Neil Diamond & Friends” show at Willowbridge Barnyard. Johan has gone from strength to strength as the demand for him to perform Neil Diamond’s hits, even as far as Namibia, has increased. Singing the songs of Neil Diamond, one of the most enduring and successful singer-songwriters of all time, is Johan’s speciality. Having sold over 25 million records worldwide, Neil Diamond is the third most successful adult contemporary artist on the Billboard Charts.

This consummate performer with his superb voice and charming personality, uncannily brings to life Neil Diamond’s evergreen hits like “Song Sung Blue”, “Sweet Caroline”, “Beautiful Noise”, “Longfellow Serenade”, “I Am I Said”, “Forever in Blue Jeans”, “Cracklin’ Rosie” and many more. Be prepared to be captivated by his acoustic medley of “Play Me” and “Cante Libre”, to mention but a few.

Let him take you back to that hot August night where even the tree people were part of the show.

BRETT GLASBY - Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation

Has been involved in wildlife rescue and wildlife management for the past 27 years. He specialises in the field of Human/Wildlife interaction with the goal to create environments where humans and animals can cohabitate. Essentially, he fulfils the role of buffer between humans and wildlife. Currently, he runs the Marine Wildlife Management Programme in the V & A Waterfront ensuring that seals, seabirds, otters and a myriad of other species are able to share this space with people with no incidences of conflict. Over the years he has been involved in several cetacean stranding events, seal disentanglements, wildlife rescues and a range of other matters.

WHALE TIME SERENADE MUSICIANS

Irina Tsoniff - violin

Irina was born in the city of Moscow in Russia. She began to play the violin at the age of six and made her first public appearance a year later. At the age of ten she performed a concerto by Bach with the Gorky Philharmonic Orchestra. She completed her Master's Degree in Music at the Moscow State Conservatory. During her tertiary education she frequently performed solo concerts and was elected to play in the prestigious Chamber Orchestra in Moscow.

She began her professional career with the State Symphony Orchestra of the Soviet Union and worked as the concertmaster of the Maly Theatre in Moscow. She moved to South Africa in 1993 and joined the NSO as Assistant Concertmaster. Irina toured throughout South Africa and countries like Italy, Spain, Japan, Greece, Sweden, Egypt, Germany, Poland, Botswana and Zambia. She was a member of the JPO and is presently a keen chamber music musician and dedicated teacher.

Ivo Ivanov - violin

Ivo graduated in Bulgaria from the Sofia Academy of Music. He was a student of the legendary violist Petar Christoskov and Eli Kasakova. In his early youth he had the good fortune to play with the Philharmonic Orchestra comprising the youngest players in the world, who were invited by UNESCO to perform at the United Nations in New York under the baton of Leonard Bernstein.

In 1991 he joined the NSO in Johannesburg and later the Transvaal Philharmonic in Pretoria. He was the leader of the Gala Pops Orchestra and is a regular solo concert artist playing with various string quartets and ensembles. Presently Ivo divides his time between music obligations and farming in Tesselaarsdal.

Vladimir Ivanov - viola

Vladimir Ivanov was born in Sofia, Bulgaria, and graduated at the Bulgarian Academy of Music with viola. He was the prize winner at the National competition for strings in Bulgaria. He was the leader of the viola section in the Sofia Opera Orchestra which travelled extensively. He arrived in South Africa in 1990 and joined the KZN Philharmonic Orchestra in Durban and in 1992 moved to Pretoria and joined the PACT Orchestra together with his wife, Toni, as principal cello. Since 2002 he is the leader of the viola section in the JPO. He plays in several chamber ensembles and has an interest in arranging and composing music.

Peta Ann Holdcroft - cello

Peta Ann began her studies in Johannesburg under Betty Pack. At an early age she won the Unisa Grade-8 prize. Having earned a Classical Ballet Diploma, chose music over ballet as a career. She was a finalist in the Harry Dexter Cello Competition in London. She subsequently spent a year in New York studying with Channing Robbins of the Julliard School of Music.

She has participated in master classes with Heinrich Schiff, Pierre Fournier, Yehuda Hanani and Steve Erdody. In 1992 she represented South Africa in a programme of contemporary music in Warsaw, Poland. She released a CD with her mother, pianist- Peggy Haddon, ‘The charm of the cello’ and regularly gave concerts with her two sons, Jeremy and Anthony. She is a member of the JPO and is also regularly invited to adjudicate music competitions and eisteddfods.

Malané Hofmeyr-Burger - flute

Malané started piano and recorder lessons as a young child and move on to playing the flute and instantly fell in love with it. She studied flute with Denise Gardiner, Chippie Yutar and Eva Tamassy. She completed her music studies at the University of Stellenbosch, clinching the ATKV Forte and Oude Meester Competitions in her final year. Realising a childhood dream, she furthered her studies in Vienna, Austria and attended master classes with many world-class flautists.

She is a member of the JPO and has performed in recitals all over South Africa and in Zambia, Mozambique, Seychelles, Belgium, Azerbaijan and Italy. Both her CD albums ‘Air’ and ‘African Rondo’- a collection of classical compositions and cross-over jazz- were nominated for a SAMA Award. Amongst her most cherished performances are the annual outdoor concerts in the Kruger National Park with this particular group of friends, in aid of counter poaching, as well as the concerts at De Hoop. Malané is a devoted flute teacher with students between the ages of 9 and 75. Her interest in teaching led her to study Victor Frankl’s Logo Therapy at Unisa. She is a keen chamber musician playing in Umoya Woodwind Quartet, Flute and Marimba Duo with Magdalena de Vries, Flute and Guitar Duo with Janes Grace, as well as other ensembles.