Classical pianist for Harare, Byo shows

Entertainment Reporter
France-based Zimbabwean-born classical performer Genaro Pereira will for the first time give two piano recitals in Harare and Bulawayo next week. He will perform on August 2 at the Harare International School Theatre in Mount Pleasant. In Bulawayo, his recital will be at the Robert Sibson Hall at the Zimbabwe Academy of Music on August 4.

Both performances have approval from the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe and other authorities, and both have the full support of local classical music organisations.

“We hope for a good turnout of music lovers and, as we have a young man with a history that started right here in Zimbabwe we are hopeful of attracting a good number of young Zimbabweans, especially students of music,” said a spokesman for the organising team.

Advance bookings for the Harare recital areopen at The Spotlight booking office and tickets can also be purchased at the door for both performances.

Pereira, who is now based in Paris, is expected to play musical works by Bach, Rachmaninov, Liszt and Beethoven, as well as works by lesser-known composers Boris Lyatoshynsky, John Field and Charles-Valentin Alkan.

The pianist will also host workshops for music students in both cities as a way to empower the aspiring musicians with piano skills.

Born in Harare in 1981, the classical performer is the grandson of the late Jimmy Pereira — popularly known in Zimbabwe as Mr Entertainment — who founded the Rainbow Organisation in the 1960s and later had a chain of cinemas and theatres across the country.

Pereira’s father, Helder, is also well-known in Southern Africa, first as a member of the management team of the then Zimbabwe Sun hotel group and later as CEO of Southern Sun Hotels in South Africa.

Pereira was educated in South Africa and attended the internationally famous Drakensberg Boys Choir School, fine-tuning his talents as a singer.

He also studied piano, clarinet and pipe organ, and later graduated from the University of Cape Town.

Since 2004 he has been based in Paris, from where he undertakes tours in Europe. While in Zimbabwe he hopes to start a dialogue with Zimbabwean students, sharing ideas and plans.