Pieter Grobler is an Associate Professor of Piano at Stellenbosch University, where he lectures in piano performance, chamber music, vocal accompaniment and repertoire studies. He has been described as a performer with “finesse, sensitivity and a flawless sense of the classical style” (The Star, Johannesburg, South Africa). He worked with Joseph Stanford at the University of Pretoria. Postgraduate studies were with Joseph Banowetz, at the University of North Texas (UNT) in the USA, where he completed the MM and DMA piano performance degrees. During his tenure at UNT he regularly attended lessons with the Polish pianist: Adam Wodnicki, as well as Elvia Puccinelli and Harold Heiberg.
Pieter maintains an active concert profile, both as solo and collaborative artist. In addition to performances across South Africa he has performed in the USA, Canada, Europe and China. Noteworthy amongst these appearances was a live radio broadcast of a solo piano recital as part of the Dame Myra Hess Concert Series hosted at the Chicago Cultural Centre, a number of South African tours, and numerous appearances with duo partner, the violinist Annette-Barbara Vogel: both in Canada and South Africa. As an accomplished Lied pianist he regularly collaborates with colleagues across the country. Pieter is a familiar face to Stellenbosch audiences and has performed numerous South African premieres of works, the most noteworthy being Alexander Johnson’s 3 Incantations for Piano (dedicated to him), Peter Klatzow’s Sonata for Cello and Piano with cellist Peter Martens, and Bongani Ndodana-Breen’s Safika – Three Tales of African Migration.
His interests in postgraduate supervision have centered around topics in analysis, pedagogy, repertoire studies and historiography as applicable to practical musicianship. Pieter Grobler regularly acts as adjudicator and examiner throughout South Africa and is the organiser and chairman of the jury for the Hennie Joubert Piano Competition, held bi-annually as part of the Stellenbosch International Piano Symposium. He has taught and performed in its sister project, the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival since 2011. In addition to his music activities, he has served as chair of the Stellenbosch University Department of Music.
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