Born in Soweto, GLORIA BOSMAN has shared the stage (both locally and internationally) with too many music greats to list here. She has now six albums to her credit under her own name as a solo artist.
She has performed in countries and cities like: London, France, Finland, Amsterdam, Australia, Africa, Angola, Nigeria, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Swaziland and Botswana and had a tour in South America. She was also part of the Shangai Expo in China in July 2010.
Winner of the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra’s Inaugural Len van Zyl Conductor’s Competition in 2010, Brandon Phillips began his music career in the New Apostolic Church. He studied bassoon and viola at the University of Cape Town, receiving his Diploma for orchestral studies and B Mus Honours in solo bassoon in 2005. Phillips currently is also principal bassoon of the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra and was in 2015 appointed its resident conductor.
Phillips is regularly invited as an adjudicator and conductor for various competitions such as the ATKV, Artscape National Youth, Unisa Winds and the Schock Singing competitions. He regularly appears on television conducting the CPYO in the Fiesta Awards, the Suidoosterfees and also the Desmond Tutu Peace Prize ceremony.
He is a guest conductor of the Johannesburg Philharmonic and the KZN Philharmonic, and other orchestras in oratorio, opera and ballet, as well as cross-over concerts. Appearances with the Miagi Youth Orchestra Festival which he conducted in 2014 in Berlin and Amsterdam received wide to critical acclaim. He has also conducted at the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival. In 2012, Phillips received a prestigious award from the Minister of Arts and Culture Ivan Meyer for “ outstanding achievements by the youth”. In 2017 he received another prestigious award, “Skouerklop”, at the Suidoosterfees. Phillips is supported by RMB Starlight Classics. Phillips recently conducted the inaugural Rotary Concerto Festival with the CPYO, and was invited to conduct the German National Youth Orchestra at the Beethoven Festival in Bonn in 2019. He recently conducted the world premiere of a work by American percussionist Marcus Gilmore with the CP0 in Rolex Arts Weekend in Cape Town.
Acknowledged as one of South Africa’s leading concert pianists and musicians, FRANÇOIS DU TOIT is an Associate Professor of Piano and Head of Practical Studies at the University of Cape Town. Receiving his early musical training from Merryl Preston, he went on to complete an Honours degree at the University of Cape Town, studying under the distinguished pianist and teacher, Laura Searle. Also holding diplomas up to Fellowship level from the Trinity College of Music, London, he studied for the Solistendiplom at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hannover, Germany, under the renowned pedagogues Arie Vardi and Bernd Goetzke.
During his period of study abroad he distinguished himself in several important international piano competitions, taking top prizes in the 1991 Hannover Music Competition, the 1992 Rotterdam and 1993 Marsala Internationals, and the 1994 International Maria Callas Competition in Athens.
Appearing as an acclaimed soloist with orchestras (both locally and abroad) since the age of fifteen, François du Toit was selected, while still a student at UCT, to accompany the former Cape Town Symphony Orchestra as soloist on its historic tour of the Republic of China (Taiwan) in 1988. He has over 40 concertos in his repertoire, ranging from Bach to Scharwenka and has also performed the concerto premieres of South African composers, Hendrik Hofmeyr and Adrian More. He has performed with conductors including Bernhard Gueller, Victor Yampolsky, Omri Hadari, Alun Francis, Thomas Sanderling, Dawid de Villiers, Piero Gambo, Arjan Tien and Alexander Lazarev. Together with Anmari van der Westhuizen and Farida Bacharova he formed the UCT Piano Trio and also appears with Franklin Larey as the Ixopo Piano Duo. He is constantly in demand as accompanist for visiting artists such as Wolfgang David, Philippe Quint, Antje Weithaus, Ilya Gringolts and Julian Lloyd-Webber, to name but a few. In July 2006 he released his first solo CD comprising works of Bach-Busoni, Haydn, Mendelssohn and Chopin and in 2010 TwoPianists record label released his recording of the Tchaikovsky 1st Piano Concerto and the Rachmaninoff Paganini Variations with the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra. He has given recitals and master classes in America, Asia and Europe and in 2012 he undertook a concert tour to Paris, Vienna and Cardiff where he accompanied the flautist, Liesl Stolz in a programme of South African flute music which was later recorded on CD under the SACM label. In 2014, he gave the premiere of the Adrian More piano concerto with the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra.
In between lecturing and administrative duties at the University of Cape Town where he is Head of Practical Studies, François is external examiner for several universities in South Africa and is often invited to sit as juror for competitions throughout the country and abroad. To celebrate turning 50, he performed all five Beethoven piano concertos with the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra at their Summer Festival on the 24th and 25th of February 2016 under the baton of Victor Yampolsky. In October 2016, he repeated these performances with the Gauteng Philharmonic Orchestra in Pretoria. In 2017 he received the Creative Works Award from the University of Cape Town. This is the first time this award has been given to a member of the South African College of Music. In the same year, François was also presented with the Molteno Medal for his contribution to Music.
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.
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.