About me
I was born and grew up in Johannesburg South Africa.
I started playing the piano at home when I was 3 years old, winning prizes in children’s piano competitions
At the age of 16, I began 5-year music studies at the Pretoria Conservatory and graduated with a Higher Diploma with Distinction in Piano (Concert Exam) and Pedagogy
IN GERMANY
In 1972 I came to Germany with a DAAD scholarship to continue my studies.
I studied piano and harpsichord with Prof. Eliza Hansen at the University of Music and Theater in Hamburg and completed 2 diploma examinations and the harpsichord concert exam
with distinction.
This led to an appointment as piano lecturer at the Hamburg University of Music.
My director, Prof. Helmut Franz, attested me to be “a popular teacher whose skillful teaching enabled students to make surprisingly rapid progress at the piano…earning me acclaim and recognition from students and colleagues alike.”
MY WORK AS A PIANIST
In 1980 I moved to Berlin for 7 years and was closely associated with the Radio Symphony Orchestra.
I played in countless radio recordings, concerts and
Chamber music concerts in the Philharmonie, Great Sender Hall and State Library. Highlights were concerts with the singers Marilyn Horne, Julia Varady and violinist Prof. Sascha Gawrilow.
Back in Hamburg in 1987, I continued to work as an orchestral pianist with the NDR orchestra for a period of 30 years, playing concerts, including as soloist in the Laeisz Hall. I took part in numerous orchestral tours in Europe, also to Tokyo and New York, Carnegie Hall.
For many years I also played with the Hamburg Philharmonic Opera Orchestra: symphony concerts, chamber music, in opera performances, accompanied lieder recitals in the Opera Stabile and played for the ballet.
John Neumeier invited me to play a Mozart concerto for his choreography “Window to Mozart”, other choreographies taking us to Petersburg and Moscow.
I also worked extensively with singers, was an accompanist for Helen Kwon, accompanied Charlotte Magiono under Nikolas Harnoncourt in the Laiesz Hall. For many years I also played the organ for Günther Jena, cantor of Hamburgs main church, St.Michaelis, in his choral performances of the great passions and Oratorios by Bach, Brahms, etc.
Jena and I also played Bach’s double concertos together on two harpsichords in the Laeiszhalle during the Bach days.
