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Gerhard Roux

By Music Technology

groux@sun.ac.za

Gerhard Roux lectures Music Technology. He remains active as a recording technician and had the privilege to have worked with various Grammy- and Oscar-awarded musicians and composers. Gerhard’s productions achieved 16 SAMA nominations, Un certain Regard selection at the Cannes Film Festival, the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik (“German Record Critics’ Award”), Annie and SAFTA Awards for film.

Gerhard’s research focus on managing the complex adaptive nature of audio production systems with a special focus on socio-technical interface in creative environments.

Please visit www.gerhardroux.com for more details.

September 15, 2016
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Luis Magalhães

By Keyboard Instruments

luis@luismagalhaes.com

Described as possessing a “wonderfully full sound” (American Record Guide) and a “polished, refined technique” (Allmusic.com), Stellenbosch-based pianist Luis Magalhães has achieved critical acclaim as both a soloist and a chamber musician. In addition to numerous performances in South Africa and his native Portugal, Switzerland, amongst others. Beyond Europe, he has appeared on stages in Brazil, South Africa, China, Japan, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and on numerous occasions, the United States.

Luis is active as a studio musician, and has collaborated with many remarkable recording artists including Frank Stadler (violin), Daniel Rowland (violin), Madeline Adkins (violin), Priya Mitchell (violin), Gareth Lubbe (viola), Julian Arp (cello) Peter Martens (cello), and James Austin Smith (oboe). The recording with Martens, featuring the complete cello sonatas of L. v. Beethoven, was awarded a coveted South African Music Award (SAMA) in 2011, while both violin recordings have received glowing reviews in The Strad. From 2000 to 2021 he formed part of TwoPianists Piano Duo and released four critically acclaimed CDs. This collaboration with the pianist Nina Schumann has been compared to the celebrated Ashkenazy- Previn and Argerich-Freire duos (American Record Guide). Furthermore, he has engaged in more frequent duo collaboration with the violinist Alissa Margulis rendering rave reviews.

Luis was awarded a DMus from the University of Cape Town in 2011, and currently holds aN Associate Professorship at the University of Stellenbosch. Luis has also given extensive masterclass tuition including lessons at New York’s fabled Juilliard School and numerous universities across Europe, Asia and the United States. As an expert pianist and educator, Luis has also served in the jury of many competitions including the prestigious Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition for Young Musicians (2012). Luis is a Yamaha International Artist.

September 15, 2016
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Nina Schumann

By Keyboard Instruments

nina@twopianists.com

Nina Schumann was born into a musical family, receiving her early music tuition from Rona Rupert and Lamar Crowson. Her first appearance with an orchestra was at the age of 15 and her talent soon captured the attention of the public when she won the Fifth National Music Competition for high school pupils in 1988. She went on to win the Oude Meester Music Prize (1989), the Forte Competition (1990) and during 1991 both the Wooltru Scholarship and the Adcock-Ingram Music Prize.

She has over 140 concerto performances with orchestras in South Africa, Germany, Portugal, Scotland, Armenia and the United States to her credit, and some 40 concertos in her repertoire.

In 1993 Schumann won the SAMRO Overseas Scholarship Competition and was awarded the Jules Kramer and Harry Crossley Bursaries for Overseas Study by the University of Cape Town. She crowned these prizes by winning the sought-after SABC Music Prize as well as the Oude Meester National Chamber Music Competition.

International accolades followed: she won prizes for the Best South African Pianist in the 1993 UNISA International Piano Competition, Finalist and Special Prize Winner at the Shreveport Concerto Competition (1996) and Third Prize in the Casablanca International Piano Competition (1997).

After completing her MMus at the University of California, Los Angeles, Schumann enrolled for a Doctorate of Music at the University of North Texas under the tutelage of Van Cliburn-winner, Vladimir Viardo. She received several academic prizes: Dean’s Medal (UCT), Best Performer (UCLA), Best Performer (UNT), Best Pianist (UNT) and Best Doctoral Student (UNT).

Following her appointment as Associate Professor and Head of Piano at the University of Stellenbosch in 1999, Schumann transferred her Doctorate to UCT, where she graduated in 2005. In 2009 she was awarded the UCT Rector’s Award for Excellence in recognition of her contribution to music.

Solo career and academic life aside, Schumann has formed a critically acclaimed duo with her husband, pianist Luis Magalhães, simply titled TwoPianists. Their CD’s have received rave reviews from international publications such as Diapason, International Record Review and Allmusic.com. In 2011, American Record Guide named their second CD it’s Editor’s Choice.

 Together with Magalhães, Schumann is a founder and director of TwoPianists Records, which is distributed worldwide by Naxos, thereby ensuring immediate international market access for the artists they are committed to record. For two consecutive years, TwoPianists Records won the South African Music Award for the Best Popular Classical Album. Schumann’s first recording with mezzo-soprano Michelle Breedt, Shakespeare Inspired, also received the German Critics’ Choice Award.

Schumann has given master classes worldwide at prestigious international institutions and music schools such as the Juilliard School of Music. During the 2013/2014 season, she made her much-anticipated Wigmore Hall and Zürich Tonhalle debuts.

In May 2014 Nina Schumann became Yamaha International Artist.

September 15, 2016
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Marian Steyl

By Keyboard Instruments

mariansteyl@mweb.co.za

Marian was awarded the degree MMus (cum laude) in 2018 at Stellenbosch University, with the late David Muller as her piano lecturer and Boudewijn Scholten as her organ lecturer. Since 1984 she has been teaching piano, recorder, music theory and music history, and also organ since 1987. In 1989 she obtained the BA (Hons) degree in History of Music under Professor Walton at the University of the Witwatersrand. Marian has held organ posts in the Northern Suburbs since 1988 and taught various organ students who are now active as church organists. She resumed her organ studies in 2011 under Mario Nell and obtained the Trinity College Performer’s Licentiate in organ in 2013. Since 2010 she teaches organ at the SU Department of Music.

September 15, 2016
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Linda Claasen

By Keyboard Instruments

lind.amuse@hotmail.com

Linda Claassen was awarded the degrees BMus (Hons) and MMus (cum laude) both from Stellenbosch University and performer’s licentiates in piano and organ at Unisa. She studied under John Antoniadis, Adolph Hallis and Lamar Crowson and was a participant of the first two international piano competitions presented by Unisa.

Under her leadership, the school choir of Tygerberg High School (1994-2010) received numerous national awards and an international second place. From 2007 to 2012 she was the founder and conductor of Tygerberg Camerata, who won their categories at the Suidoosterfees and US Woordfees and performed at Cultivaria, the US Choral Symposium and Afri-Klassiek, amongst others. In 2011 she acted as choirmaster of Cape Town Opera’s production Brundibar at the Artscape Theatre. Tygerberg Charité is an annual musical production in aid of charity that she presents with the South African Navy Band and choirs in Cape Town City Hall. She has received a Paul Harris Award from the Bellville Rotary Club for her community service. She has been a part-time lecturer in organ at SU since 2012 as well as the conductor of the Tygerberg City Choir. She was the chief judge of the ATKV Animato Choir Competition in 2016.

Linda is head of Tygerberg High School’s music department, organist at the De Tyger Dutch Reformed Church and part-time piano teacher and accompanist at the Hugo Lambrechts Music Centre.

September 15, 2016
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Nina Fourie Gouws

By Guitar

info@ninaguitar.co.za

Nina Fourie-Gouws was born in Pretoria, South Africa. She completed both her Bachelor and Masters in Music Performance degrees at the University of Pretoria and also received a Licentiate in Classical Guitar Teaching from the University of South Africa. In 2012 Fourie-Gouws obtained her Postgraduate in Music Performance with distinction from the South African College of Music, University of Cape Town. She is the first guitarist to receive these honours cum laude.

Fourie-Gouws has received masterclasses from a large number of international concert guitarists and pedagogues, including Carlos Bonell (Royal College of Music in London), Nikita Koshkin (Russia), Štěpán Rak (Czech Republic), Victor Villadangos (Argentina), Antigoni Goni (Greece) and Carlos Barbosa-Lima (Brazil), to name a few.

Nina Fourie-Gouws maintains an active concert schedule throughout Southern Africa with performances including multiple sold out performances and standing ovations at 2019 and 2020 SU Woordfees, Classical for All festival and Klein Karoo Klassique. She has performed as a guest artist on the South African television show, Kyknet’s Draadloos as well as a featured artist at the 2018 Volterra Guitar Project, in Italy. Since 2013 Nina Fourie-Gouws has been guitar lecturer at Stellenbosch Konservatorium where she teaches pre-undergraduate, undergraduate and postgraduate practical music studies as well as accompaniment, repertoire studies and teaching methodology.

September 15, 2016
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Ncebakazi Mnukwana

By Ethnomusicology

mnukwana@sun.ac.za

Ncebakazi Mnukwana has been appointed lecturer of Music Education in 2009 at the University of Stellenbosch Music Department where also teaches Ethnomusicology and has taught World Music.

When awarded an academic scholarship to study towards a Masters in multicultural education at the Oslo University College, Mnukwana became the musical director of Inkululeko (2002 – 2005), a choral ensemble formed by the South African political exiles in Oslo, Norway in the late 1980s. Back in Cape Town she has worked on a volunteering basis as the vocal instructor and conductor for The Pilgrimage Ensemble (2009 – 2012) at the Mowbray Seventh-Day Adventist Church.

Currently she is reading for her PhD at the University of Cape Town with a special focus in umngqokolo, the overtone singing of Xhosa-speaking adolescent girls. In 2007, Mnukwana was awarded the Research Associateship and AW Mellon Foundation Scholarship by the University of Cape Town for doctoral studies.

At Stellenbosch University Mnukwana has been the recipient of the AW Mellon Doctoral funding, as a mentee in the AW Mellon Mentorship Programme and a recipient of the Rector’s Award in 2015.

She an active member of the Cape Cultural Collective, where she sings in the multilingual choir Rosa since 2012 and is an indigenous instrumental soundscaper for uHadi (2013), a poetry and musical stage production commissioned for the French South Africa Season 2012 / 2013. She has also been the commissioned music director for Igqhiya Emnyama (2015) by Cindy Mkaza-Siboto for the Infecting the City, Cape Town and Insurrection III The Storming (2015) produced by South African History Online.

September 15, 2016
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Hans Roosenschoon

By Composition & Orchestration

hroosen@sun.ac.za

Emeritus Professor Hans Roosenschoon (b. 1952)

The composer Hans Roosenschoon is well known for his poly-stylistic music, including his contribution to cultural life and academia in South Africa. Roosenschoon was Chair of the Music Department and Director of the Conservatory at Stellenbosch University from 1998-2006. From 2007 until his retirement in 2017 he established a vibrant course in composition and orchestration, producing a number of innovative young composers who have established themselves in South Africa and abroad.

Trans-cultural awareness – a belief in the intrinsic value of all music – emerged as a philosophy early in Roosenschoon’s career and many of his works are testimony to that. In addition to ongoing performances in South Africa, seven works for symphony orchestra, two for string orchestra, chamber music and several choral pieces have featured at events in the USA, Europe, Australia and the UK.

Discourse on Roosenschoon’s music can be found in accredited journals published in South Africa and in international references such as Contemporary Composers by Brian Morton and Pamela Collins, online publications such as Grove Music Online and Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart (MGG) Online, as well as Sounding the Cape – Music, Identity and Politics in South Africa, an eBook publication. Further reading can be found online and examples of his music are available on YouTube.

http://www.roosenschoon.co.za

September 15, 2016
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Ernst van Tonder

By Composition & Orchestration

ernstvt@sun.ac.za

Ernst van Tonder began his musical training at the age of 4 in Bloemfontein, taking recorder lessons with Kobie Colditz. In 1997 he moved to Richards Bay where he received most of his initial musical training. From 1997 he took piano lessons with Henriette Mans. He attended Grantleigh College from 1999 where he started clarinet lessons with Marietjie Lotz as well as saxophone and piano lessons with Hayley White (Smith) between 2007 and 2008. From 2008 he received private piano and advanced theory lessons with Anne-Marie van der Merwe.

In 2008 Ernst was the bursary winner of the Zululand Mondi Eisteddfod, winning six trophies in various categories. Between 2004 and 2008 Ernst was the principal of the Grantleigh Wind Band, high school choir accompanist and completed his UNISA Grade 8 clarinet exam in 2006.

In 2009 he started his BMus degree at Stellenbosch University. In his first year he was
involved in productions as clarinetist and saxophonist of Nunsense Amen, West Side Story,
and Midnight the Moonlight and Me. He was a member of USSBE from 2009 – 2013 as 1st clarinet and has played under the baton of renowned conductors such as Robert Maxym, Allan Stephenson, Sean Kierman, and Rik Gesqhuire. In 2012 Ernst graduated with his BMus degree, specializing in composition, under the tutelage of Prof. Hans Roosenschoon and clarinet with Maria du Toit.

As a composer, Ernst has transcribed works for USSBE, residence acapella groups, and the Orchestra for the annual KOMPOS concert. He has also been commissioned by ensembles in New Zealand, Portugal, Belgium, and France to transcribe works for Concert and Jazz Band. In 2013 and 2014 he was awarded the SAMRO composition bursary. Between 2011 and 2014, Ernst held the position of Treasurer and Orchestral Manager at KOMPOS. In 2013 he started his MMus at Stellenbosch University, specializing in composition. He is currently lecturing in rudimental theory of music, composition, and orchestration in the higher certificate and diploma courses at the music department.

September 15, 2016
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Antoni Schonken

By Composition & Orchestration

antoni@sun.ac.za

ANTONI SCHONKEN (1987-) is a South African composer currently residing in Stellenbosch, lecturing at Stellenbosch University and composing for Sein Media. His doctoral research, supervised by acclaimed composer Hans Roosenschoon, focused on developing a generalised theory of orchestration practice. He is a double recipient of the prestigious Harry Crossley Scholarship, as well as the SAMRO Overseas Scholarship for Composers. His works for instruments, voice, stage and film have won awards both locally and internationally.

Antoni’s compositions, which display elements of minimalism, impressionism and choral styles, have received critical acclaim. In reviews, his music is described as finely choreographed with a keen focus on developing vocal qualities within instrumental genres, while his rare compassion for landscape gives his musical idiom a deeply stirring authenticity.

Antoni has received commissions from ensembles including the Oxford Camerata, Unheardof//Ensemble and Juliet Quartet, as well as JIMF, GrassRoots and Sinfonia Gaia. His collaborations with NATi, Woordfees, acclaimed director Marthinus Bassoon and world-renowned poet Antjie Krog have led to performances locally and internationally.

While attending residencies and festivals in the USA, Antoni worked with composers Ken Ueno, Hannah Lash, David Ludwig, Mari Kimura and Pierre Jalbert, and in 2017 he attended residencies and presented guest lectures at institutions in Finland, Sweden, Belgium, France, and the Netherlands. Antoni was the first South African composer to be invited to attend the MacDowell Residency in New England USA.

In recent years Antoni shifted his creative focus to reflect on hate crime — four recent works, 02:06, Liminal(ity), tobe:toknow, and Fate’s Given Chance have received critical acclaim at an international level, with performances in the USA and UK. His second string quartet, titled A 29-Year Old Security Guard (in memory of the Orlando shooting of 12 June 2016), was commissioned and premiéred by the Juliet Quartet.

In 2018 Die Nuwe Verbond, a musical work spanning over 60 minutes for choir, soloists, orchestra and dancers, was commissioned by Marthinus Basson and NATi in collaboration with Antjie Krog; this work addresses issues of identity, religion, empathy, and custodianship of Planet Earth.

September 15, 2016
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