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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.
Solo career and academic life aside, Schumann has formed a critically acclaimed duo with the pianist Luis Magalhães, simply titled TwoPianists. Their CD’s have received rave reviews from international publications such as Diapason, International Record Review and Allmusic.com. In 2011, American Record Guide named their second CD it’s Editor’s Choice.

 Together with Magalhães, Schumann is a founder and director of TwoPianists Records, which is distributed worldwide by Naxos, thereby ensuring immediate international market access for the artists they are committed to record. For two consecutive years, TwoPianists Records won the South African Music Award for the Best Popular Classical Album. Schumann’s first recording with mezzo-soprano Michelle Breedt, Shakespeare Inspired, also received the German Critics’ Choice Award.
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.

Contact: nina@twopianists.com
Konservatorium Building – Studio:C330

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 (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, 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, where he lectures in piano performance, chamber music, vocal accompaniment and repertoire studies. Postgraduate supervision has centered on topics in pedagogy and repertoire studies. 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.
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 national tours, and numerous appearances with duo partner, the violinist Annette-Barbara Vogel: both in Canada and South Africa. Pieter is a familiar face to Stellenbosch audiences where he performs regularly. To date he 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.

Contact: pjcgrobler@sun.ac.za
Konservatorium Building – Studio:C333

Described as possessing a “wonderfully full sound” (American Record Guide) and a “polished, refined technique” (Allmusic.com), Luis Magalhães has achieved critical acclaim as both a soloist and a chamber musician. Born in Portugal and currently residing in Stellenbosch, South Africa, Luis’s career as a pianist displays the cosmopolitanism typical of successful 21st century musicianship. Luis has played extensively across Europe with recent engagements in Germany, Austria, his native Portugal, Switzerland, amongst others. Beyond Europe, he has appeared on stages in Brazil, South Africa, China, Japan, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and on numerous occasions, the United States. Reflecting his eminence as an artist of global standing, Luis was bestowed the honour of being named a Yamaha International Artist.

Luis is active as a studio musician, and has collaborated with many remarkable recording artists including Frank Stadler (violin), Daniel Rowland (violin), Madeline Adkins (violin), Priya Mitchell (violin), Gareth Lubbe (viola), Julian Arp (cello) Peter Martens (cello), and James Austin Smith (oboe). The recording with Martens, featuring the complete cello sonatas of L. v. Beethoven, was awarded a coveted South African Music Award (SAMA) in 2011, while both violin recordings have received glowing reviews in The Strad. From 2000 to 2021 he formed part of TwoPianists Piano Duo and released four critically acclaimed CDs. This collaboration with the pianist Nina Schumann has been compared to the celebrated Ashkenazy-Previn and Argerich-Freire duos (American Record Guide). Furthermore, he has engaged in more frequent duo collaboration with the violinist Alissa Margulis rendering rave reviews.

Luis’s further activities in the recording industry include the co-founding of the independent label TwoPianists Records. The result has been both local and international accolades, such as a German Record Critic’s Award in 2011. Luis’s immersion in the world of classical music recording has extended to the role of producer, to which he brings a wealth of experience as a practicing musician of the highest calibre. As a promoter of classical music in South Africa, Luis is a co-founder of the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival, which has since 2004 become the premier classical music festival on African soil. He is also a co-founder of the biannual Stellenbosch International Piano Symposium. In October 2022, Luis was appointed Artist in Residence at Theatro Circo, Braga – Portugal, until end 2023.

Eminent musicianship always leaves a legacy in the form of tuition. Luis himself was a student of maestro Vladimir Viardo at the University of North Texas. He has since gone to teach students who have scooped up major awards and placings in National and International competitions. Luis was awarded a Doctorate in Music in Piano Performance from the University of Cape Town in 2011, and continues his association with university musical life with his appointment to an Associate Professorship at the University of Stellenbosch. Luis has also given extensive masterclass tuition including lessons at New York’s fabled Juilliard School and numerous universities across Europe, Asia and the United States. As an expert pianist and educator, Luis has also served in the jury of many competitions including the prestigious Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition for Young Musicians.

Contact: lmam@sun.ac.za

Konservatorium Building – Studio:C331