KLINK: Glasmusiek

KLINK: Klank in Ink is a new curated concert series presented in collaboration with UNISA’s Department of Afrikaans and General Literary Studies and Franco Prinsloo Productions (FPP), exploring the intersection of music and literature through performances of poetry, song, and choral works in an intimate concert setting.

The programme spans multiple generations of Afrikaans poets - from Totius and Ingrid Jonker to Breyten Breytenbach, Wilma Stockenström and Philip de Vos - creating a musical dialogue between poetry and choral expression. Dr. Isabelle van Rensburg also accompanies the choir on the imposing Rieger organ in the ZK Matthews Great Hall at UNISA.

The title Glasmusiek is directly inspired by Prinsloo’s setting of a poem by Ernst van Heerden. Like glass, both music and poetry are precious and fragile: clear, light-bearing, and delicate. When poetry is illuminated through music, the two art forms exist in reflection, allowing the resonance of language and sound to shimmer anew.

The concert also engages youth through a pre-programme featuring four guest choirs: the Bronberg Children’s Choir, Serenade Youth Choir, and the Affie-Koor and A-minere of the Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool.

The Fanco Prinsloo Arts Collective (FPAC), lead by visual artist and chorister John Robbertse, will showcase a collaborative installation that investigates the intersection of perception and memory by repositioning ordinary glass objects as vessels of personal meaning and collective history. Developed alongside the performance Glasmusiek by the Vox Chamber Choir, the work utilizes glass as both medium and metaphor to mirror the unstable, shifting nature of memory and contemporary identity in South Africa. By activating these fragile objects as instruments—inspired by Ernst van Heerden’s poem Musiek—the project transforms brittle matter into resonance, proposing that care is a necessary engagement with a fractured world. Authorship is extended to the audience, who are invited to interact with tuned glasses and access QR-linked narratives, contributing to an evolving spatial and sonic inquiry into how delicate things endure.  

Date: 10 May 2026 | 15:00

Venue: ZK Matthews Great Hall | UNISA, Pretoria

Tickets: R150 adults | R100 students | R80 children (under 13). Door tickets R180. Programmes available at R80 (pre-sales only - no programmes at the door)

Payment Notice

We are currently experiencing technical difficulties with our online payment gateway (Yoco). We apologise for the inconvenience and are working to resolve this as quickly as possible.

In the meantime, tickets remain available at the door. As a gesture of goodwill, we are waiving the standard door price and welcoming all guests at the regular ticket price of R150 per person.

We look forward to seeing you today.