Western Cape Piano Festival Competition 2023

Congratulations to the wonderful pianists

Best Pianist Winners

Sponsored by International Youth Music Competitions IYMC

8 Years & Under - Alina Robbertze

10 Years & Under - Naomi Shmanova Pearson

11-13 Years - Nina Cilliers

14-16 Years - Alexander McIvor

17-19 Years - Vivianna Shmanova Pearson

Runner Up Pianists

Additional Prizes

Best Performance of a Work by J. S. Bach (Sponsored by Dr. Bertha le Roux)

Junior - Nina Cilliers

Senior - Alexander McIvor

Best Performance of a Sonata/Sonatina

(Sponsored by Shane Goodall Piano Studio)

Junior - Naomi Shmanova Pearson

Senior - Vivianna Shmanova Pearson

Best Performance of a Duet/Trio

(Sponsored by Dr. Ronella van Rensburg)

Junior - Christie Gardner/Olivia Chan/

Anna Brinckmann

Senior - Daanish Zakriya/Lisa Lambert

ADJUDICATORS

Sandra Kettle-Loubser was our adjudicator for the Junior Section (13 Years & Under) of the 2023 edition of the Western Cape Piano Festival Competition. Sandra is a graduate from UCT where she holds a Master degree as well as the Hochschule fur Musik und Theater, Hannover, Germany where she holds a concert diploma as well as a chamber music diploma. She has won prizes including the SAMRO Overseas Merit Scholarship, 2nd prize in the UNISA Overseas Scholarship competition as well as 2nd prize in the 1993 prestigious SABC national piano/organ competition. She was Head of Subject Music and piano as well as accompanist at the Beau Soleil Music center till the end of 2021 and now is a part time teacher/accompanist at Westerford High school as well as senior lecture at the SANDF Military school of Music (satellite of the University of Stellenbosch).

Ilse Myburgh adjudicated the Senior Section (14 Years & Over) in the 2023 edition of the Western Cape Piano Festival Competition. She is an accomplished pianist and accompanist, as well as an enthusiastic educator with vast experience in solo, instrumental and ensemble teaching. Ms Myburgh has an MMus degree in Chamber Music and her studies have been at the University of the Witwatersrand, University of Pretoria and the University of South Africa.

Our adjudicator for the 2024 edition of the Western Cape Piano Festival Competition is Dr Bertha le Roux, from Pretoria. She is an accomplished piano & harmony pedagogue, lecturer, examiner and eisteddfod adjudicator. She started her formal training at age 5, winning her first music competition at age 8 and continued her studies at the University of Cape Town finishing top of her class. She continued her studies at the University of Pretoria passing both a BMus Hons and MMus in piano pedagogy with distinction under the guidance of Prof Joseph Stanford. Dr le Roux holds a Teachers’ licentiate from the University of South Africa and two Performers licentiates from Royal Schools of Music and Trinity College of Music, London. She completed her doctoral studies in 2010 under the guidance of Prof Caroline van Niekerk. Dr le Roux has an active music life, where she apart from her current university commitments at Unisa, lectures at the Lynnwood Arts Academy in Pretoria. Here she focuses on teacher and student empowerment through individual and group classes. She has experience as adjudicator at eisteddfodau in East London, Springs, Centurion, Kempton Park, Nelspruit, Tzaneen, Kroonstad and Pretoria. Dr le Roux regularly contributes articles to accredited music journals and serve as external examiner for the UFS.