The award-winning principal clarinettist of the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra, Junnan Sun will perform at Unisa with pianist Annalien Ball.

The concert is presented in recognition of Earth Hour, a worldwide event to encourage people to turn off non-essential lights on 30 March from 20:30 to 21:30. It is the third year that Unisa is celebrating Earth Hour with a music event.  This year for the first time the Unisa Sustainability Office and Music Foundation joins forces with a concert celebrating instruments that use no electricity.

The programme for the first half of the recital on Unisa’s main campus consists of Schumann’s Fantasiestücke, Pablo Sarasate’s dazzling Carmen Fantasy and a modern composition entitled Bug by Bruno Mantovani depicting a computer break-down.

After interval the audience will be treated to Brahms’ first Clarinet Sonata in F minor and the South African première of István Kohán’s Hungarian Fantasy no. 1.

Chinese clarinettist Junnan Sun (28) moved to South Africa in 2003 and obtained his BMus (Hons) at the University of Pretoria under the tutelage of Lizet Smith in 2011. He continued his studies at the Royal College of Music (RCM) in London where he studied with Michael Collins, Richard Hosford and Janet Hilton, obtaining a Masters of Performance (specialising in Orchestral Studies) with distinction. Junnan still regularly receives coaching from renowned South African clarinettist Robert Pickup. His studies in the UK were made possible by the Sir Wilkins-Mackerras Scholarship from the RCM, and the P.J. Lemmer UNISA Overseas Music Scholarship.

Junnan has been the recipient of numerous awards, highlights of which include: first prize in the Clarinet Category at the Stockholm International Music Competition (2014); Outstanding Young Artist Award, awarded to him by the Provincial Government of Jiangsu Province, China (2014); RCM Clarinet Prize which recognizes the top clarinettist of the RCM (2014); RCM Savage Club Prize for the best performance of a concerto (2014); Over-all winner of the RCM Concerto Competition (2013); and the RCM Rising Star award (2013). Junnan was also named the over-all winner of five South African music competitions, namely the ATKV National Classical Music Competition (2015), the UNISA Overseas Music Scholarship Competition (2011), the Phillip Moore Music Competition (2010), the UNISA South African Music Scholarship Competition (2009), and the Lubner Solo Music Competition (2008).