The Cape Town Philharmonic Wind Quintet is an initiative to bring excellent chamber music to audiences around Cape Town and further afield. The quintet has performed in several concert series around the Cape, including the Endler Concert Series and Musika Mundi, and also presented educational concerts. Currently, the members of the quintet are all principal players in the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra.
Gabriele von Durckheim (flute) began lessons with Eva Tamassy whilst still at primary school. After graduating from the University of Stellenbosch, she continued her studies in England with renowned Flautist Trevor Wye. Gabriele has performed as soloist with Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra and Camerata Tinta Barocca and as ensemble player with several chamber groups.
Daniel Prozesky (clarinet) obtained a Professional Diploma in Performance from L’Institut de Ribaupierre and a BMus from the Lausanne Conservatory in Switzerland under renowned Swiss clarinettist Frédéric Rapin. In addition to playing in the orchestra, Daniel is an ardent chamber musician and a qualified mechanical engineer.
Lisa White (oboe) joined the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra in 2018. She studied at the South African College of Music, where she obtained the BMus degree with distinction, and continued her studies in the United States with Dr Kevin Vigneau, principal oboe of the New Mexico Philharmonic.
Caroline Prozesky (horn) received a BMus (cum laude) at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University with Professor Erik Albertyn and continued her studies with international horn soloist Bruno Schneider. She completed a Masters in Music Performance at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Genève. She joined the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra in 2011 and currently lives in Cape Town with her husband, Daniel.
Simon Ball (bassoon) is the resident comedian of the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra and hails from the sleepy town of Port Elizabeth. Since starting the bassoon at the age of 11, he has dedicated countless hours to the performance and teaching of this noble instrument. Outside of work, Simon tends lovingly to the needs of his beautiful wife and three daughters, and rides bicycles slowly.
The South African pianist, Pieter Grobler, has been described as a performer with “finesse, sensitivity and a flawless sense of the classical style” (The Star, Johannesburg, South Africa). Grobler worked with Joseph Stanford at the University of Pretoria. Postgraduate studies were with Joseph Banowetz at the University of North Texas in the USA, where he completed the MM and DMA piano performance degrees. During his tenure there he regularly attended lessons with the Polish pianist: Adam Wodnicki. He studied vocal accompaniment with Dr. Elvia Puccinelli and Harold Heiberg. Pieter Grobler was the recipient of numerous scholarships and prizes from institutions in both South Africa and the USA.
In 2010 he accepted a position in Piano at Stellenbosch University, located in the picturesque winelands surrounding Cape Town, where he lectures in piano performance and chamber music. Other responsibilities have included a term as head of the Department of Music, and serving before that as head of practical music studies. Postgraduate supervision has centered around his interests in pedagogy and repertoire studies. Pieter Grobler regularly acts as adjudicator and examiner throughout South Africa, and have functioned as organiser and chairman of the jury for the Hennie Joubert Piano Competition, held bi-annually as part of the Stellenbosch International Piano Symposium.
Since his return to South Africa in 2010, he maintained an active concert profile, performing abroad regularly. In addition to performances across South Africa he has to date performed in the USA, Canada, Bulgaria and China. A number of his recordings are broadcast regularly on Classic-FM in Johannesburg.