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Putting her heart and soul into everything she does, Gloria Campaner, a celebrated Italian pianist, carefully elects causes to support through her music. During her recent visit to Cape Town, she performed at a private event hosted by Newmark Hotels, Residences, Reserves & Lodges? Managing Director, Neil Markovitz, in aid of Rhino Disharmony. This unique project was created by Motswari Private Game Reserve owners, Marion Geiger and Fabrice de Lamazière, together with one of the founding directors of Rhino Disharmony, Anthony Watterson, to educate the world about the rhino poaching crisis in South Africa through the arts.
Driving along the Atlantic Seaboard, the beaches are packed to capacity, but I?m en route to a far more appealing event. Arriving at Mr. Markovitz?s private residence, I hear the sound of piano music emanating from the home as Gloria rehearses for the evening?s concert. Freshly cut flower arrangements of proteas and hydrangeas adorn the tables and I hold my breath for a moment to take in what is right in front of me ? a striking woman sitting at a Fazioli piano, playing so passionately that it almost brings me to tears. On the right-hand side of the piano plays an eye-catching reminder of the cause that is being supported; a bronzed sculpture of a newborn rhino calf with his umbilical cord still attached, another victim who didn?t make it after his mother was poached.
Gloria is stylishly dressed in a custom couture gown by Italian designer, Antoni...