Cape Town rising star Nathan-John Arendse, known professionally as Nathan John, will debut original piano pieces at a concert performed at the President Hotel in Bantry Bay next Sunday.
The performance will feature pieces from the pianist’s self-penned album Wait.
Arendse’s work has been accepted for composition at the College of Music at the University of West London, where he hopes to continue his musical studies.
Arendse will also be joined on stage for two of the pieces by accompanying violinist Deidré Cicilie and vocalist Fanele Mkhwanazi.
A portion of the Kenilworth resident’s repertoire was created during the lockdown when he found himself stuck at home with little to do.
“There was so much free time because we really couldn’t go out,” he explained. “At the beginning of the lockdown, I could not go to the beach as I often do, I was stuck inside and so I thought I would record myself. The piano I have has a built-in recording button.
“The experience wasn’t easy. It’s very time consuming, you have to sit and pick a key and figure out what the feeling of the song is. Because I was forced to stay indoors, this was the main form of work for me.
“It was like a job, I sat there and rehearsed all of the melodies and recorded them one by one until it came to the end and I had eight songs and thought that this was good.”
During that time, John hunkered down and composed new pieces. The end result is a compilation featuring pieces such as Beautiful Misery, and Covid-19.
John received musical training from a young age and formed a rock band at age 12 with his brother, Joshua-Caleb. He went on to study songwriting and drumming at Beau Soleil Music Centre, and now offers piano lessons and plays at private functions.
Tickets to the Nathan John live event cost R175 and can be booked at www.nathanjohncapetown.com or email [email protected]