What: St George’s Unplugged – lunch concert series When: January 14 to March 27, 2025 at 1.15pm Where: 5 Wale St, Cape Town City Centre, Cape Town Tickets: No charge but please book online. Donations appreciated Bookings: https://www.quicket.co.za/events/295780-st-georges-unplugged/#/ Producer: Unplugged Concerts is hosted by the Cape Town Concert Series. For info or to donate to Unplugged, e-mail info@ctconcerts.co.za |
St George’s Unplugged: The enterprising Louise Howlett of the Cape Town Concert Series has organised a series of free lunch time concerts in St Georges Cathedral in Cape Town. The concerts start at 1.15pm, Tuesdays and Thursdays and run until March 25, 2025 – the end of our summer. The concerts are free but the aim is to raise awareness around the costs required to maintain the cathedral and donations are appreciated. The running costs of the cathedral are over R455 an hour. A donation of R110 will cover costs for 15 minutes.
I was at the first Unplugged concert, on Tuesday January 14, featuring James Grace, classical guitarist extraordinaire. He welcomed a young student of his, Luca Duffet (12) to play a solo. It was a sublime concert.
Grace gave a nod to South Africa with Abdullah Ibrahim’s iconic The Wedding. The concert wrapped up with Grace inviting Howlett to sing a stirring Ava Maria. The classically trained opera singer is sensational. She trained at the Royal College of Music in London and so did Grace.
Today Tuesday January 21, I was at the Sandile and Friends concert which featured opera singers Sandile Kamle, Thamsanqa Mtshamba, Sive Ndima and Lindile Kula. Accompanied by pianist Albert Combrink, they presented an eclectic programme of South African music “inspired by real events and European music”. Combrink gave lovely insights into each piece. The appreciative audience included students of The Rainbow Academy in Cape Town.
It is very special to be at Unplugged in the beautiful Sir Herbert Baker designed building (foundation stone was laid in 1901), immersed in glorious music. As Louise Howlett muses: “Patrons are invited to sit, unwind, ‘unplug’ and contemplate through music in the iconic surroundings of St Georges Cathedral in the heart of the City”. It has been interesting for me to see at the two concerts I have attended, the people who are attending. There were passers-by and tourists who happened to be in the area. Others came in especially for the concerts. A number of people told me that it was their first visit to St George’s. Yes, parking is a bit tricky but parking spaces do open up in Queen Victoria Street, so get there a few minutes early and do a drive through. The concerts start on the dot at 1.15pm, which is great for people using their lunch breaks to enjoy music as they can get back to the office.
There is no charge to attend the concerts, but please book through Quicket so that the seating can be arranged. There were sizable crowds for both concerts and I can see the Unplugged concerts being fully seated in the future. It is a fabulous concept to have free lunchtime concert in this heritage building in beautiful Cape Town. One can donate online to St Georges. See box for details, at Quicket booking link.




✳ Featured image- James Grace concert at Unplugged at St Georges, January 14, 2025. Pic by Robyn Cohen/TheCapeRobyn.