A night to remember as
the heavens open for
Concert under the Stars

It was billed as a 'Concert under the Stars' but it turned out to be a 'Prelude to a Storm' and what a stirring build up it was. When the rain eventually arrived, it felt as if Mtunzini's long drought - cultural and otherwise - was finally over.

Organisers of the classical music concert held at Twinstreams Environmental Education Centre spent an anxious few days surfing the weather websites which all forecast 'extreme conditions' and torrential rains to hit Mtunzini at the scheduled starting time of the outdoor event.
But Allan Veitch, of Zanj Restaurant, has long-cherised a dream of bringing classical music to Mtunzini and using the forest as a venue, and he insisted that the show had to go on. In his welcoming remarks at the concert he expressed his belief that a beautiful place needed beautiful music and he dedicated the evening to the memory of Ian Garland, founder of Twinstreams.
Allan has shared this dream with Peta-Ann Holdcroft - cellist with the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra, self-confessed 'nature-lover' and regular visitor to Mtunzini - and over the years they have fantasised about offering an evening of classical music under the stars at Mick's Park.
Peta-Ann roped in fellow musicians Irvina Tsoniff (violin), Marjan Vonk (viola) and her son Anthony Holdcroft (also on cello) to form a string quartet to perform a concert of popular classics and combine it with a dinner cooked by the popular Zanj Restaurant chefs, Georgie and Tommy.

Mick's Park was rearranged to accommodate the possibility of bad weather and tickets were limited to 100 so that everyone could be seated under cover. The fossils and hippo jaw bones were dusted off and packed away and for the first time in its 57-year history, Twinstreams became a concert hall.
Once the house lights were dimmed, every bug in the Siyaya Coastal Park descended onto the musicians' score sheets and before playing Johan Sebastian Bach's Air on a G string, Peta-Ann had to call for the Tabard.

Some diehards braved the light drizzle and enjoyed the music from the large bonfire under the flatcrown trees, some climbed into the lofts for a better view but everyone was moved by the uniqueness of the evening and the novel venue for appreciating classical music.
Bush babies cried, raindrops fell on the corrugated roofing, insects buzzed overhead but as Peta-Ann remarked during the concert: "Everything is music. You just have to hear it".
At the end of the concert Twinstreams Centre manager, Steve Untiedt, declared the evening as a new 'Wow Moment' in Twinstreams' illustrious life and with that the thunder clapped and the heavens opened up.
It was a night to remember!