Cape Philharmonic Orchestra | |
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Background information | |
Also known as | CPO |
Origin | Cape Town, Western Cape SA |
Genres | Classical Popular music Soundtrack New Age |
Occupations | Symphony orchestra |
Years active | 1914–present |
Associated acts | Ladysmith Black Mambazo |
Website | www.cpo.org.za |
Members | |
Principal Guest Conductor Owain Arwel Hughes |
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Past members | |
Thomas Rajna Darryl Andrews |
The Cape Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO) is an orchestra based in Cape Town, Western Cape.
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The CPO is part of a history of symphonies based in Cape Town which began in 1914. In 1987, an exchange program was established between the Orchestra and the Taipei Arts Festival as part of South Africa's relations with the Republic of China (Taiwan).[1]:512
In 1994, many feared that the CPO and other Eurocentric cultural institutions would diminish or fail in the non-racial democracy begun with the 1994 elections. This fear was not realized as the orchestra grew in the post-1994 era. It began including courses in local townships which were created for non-white South Africans during the apartheid era.[2]
In 2011, the group became the first African orchestra to tour the United States. As of that year, it performed 160 concerts at home a year and received 80% of its US$2.7 million budget from the South African government.[2]
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