Pianist Rocco de Villiers stuns the crowd for a cause
WELTEVREDEN PARK – Rocco de Villiers' show helped raise R50 000 for the Ekklesia Park Retirement Village.
The atmosphere was electric as the crowd took their seats, dressed in their finest evening wear.
The reason for their excitement was the upcoming performance and show by legendary South African pianist Rocco de Villiers that
was held at the NG Church in Weltevreden Park on 6 September, with the purpose of collecting money for the upgrade of Ekklesia Park Retirement Village, Blairgowrie.
Volunteer Anna-Marie Sonnekus explained that before the show even started, the village managed to collect a staggering R50 000 through donations and tickets sales. “The Retirement Village’s lunch-time and dinner room was in a dire need of an upgrade and it is something that is very important to the retired residents at the village as they spend a lot of their time in this area.”
The crowd went silent for a while as the lights dimmed and De Villiers made his appearance – he walked straight to the piano in the centre of the stage and the show started.
The first two songs went by and Rocco remained at the piano but he surprised the crowd when he started interacting with them after his second song.
He started off with his life story where he was born, in the little farming town of Harrismith in the Free State with a father who played the banjo. This is where his love of music started.
“At the age of four, I was a better piano player than the local music teacher at our school,” he said.
He added that the music teacher known as Tannie Mona du Plessis was a big inspiration in his career and formed a great foundation for him to start performing.
“She introduced me to classical music and I decided to compose a song for her about how she inspired me to keep on going. The song is also on my new album.”
Rocco managed to draw each audience member with his story as he explained each song to them and the inspiration behind every piece.
At the end of the show, the fans had the opportunity to meet and have a chat with the musician, swarming around him for the next hour. He posed for numerous photos and signed a lot of albums.
Sonnekus thanked the people for their support and Rocco de Villiers for hosting such a great show in Weltevreden Park.
