Young pianists play for R200 000 prizes

It’s not just technique, but what you have to say with your music

THE carrot dangling enticingly in front of 13 gifted amateur keyboardists who are vying to win this year’s South African Music Rights Organisation (Samro) Overseas Scholarships Competition comes in the form of two R200 000 top prizes for the two winners of the competition’s Jazz and Western Art Music categories.

The competition semi-finals take place on August 24, and the finals on August 26 in Pretoria.

Five of the competitors – Elizabeth Gaylord, Nicholas Williams, Blake Hellaby, Megan-Geoffrey Prins and Bronwyn van Wieringen – either come from or have studied in the Western Cape.

Gaylord, 24, who lives in Rondebosch, described the competition as being “very heavy” and considered it an honour to have made it to the semi-finals.

“I’ll just work hard and play my heart out – it’s not just about technique and how fast you can play, but what you have to say with your music,” she said.

Williams, 31, from Sea Point, said he had been inspired at a young age to listen to music.

“I was brought up with South African music, because my dad listened to a lot of local musicians, such as Abdullah Ebrahim and Moses Mololekwa.

“At age 17 or 18, while in high school, that’s when it clicked that I wanted to play the piano professionally.

“The last time I was a finalist and runner-up was in 2013. So this time I’m going to go for the win,” Williams said.

On his future ambitions, Williams said he would love to continue performing on the piano, compose music for films and other artists, as well as be a producer for recording artists.

Samro chief executive Nothando Migogo said: “We pride ourselves on remaining closely involved in the career trajectories of these bright young stars as they navigate their way through the ranks of the local and global industry.”

Samro Foundation managing director Andre le Roux said that because of the unusually strong field of candidates this year, it had been decided for the first time in the competition’s 55 years of existence to add an extra candidate to the usual 12 competitors.

The other finalists include Peter Cartwright, Willem de Beer, Lourens Fick and Neil Robertson in the Western Art Music category.

Those in the Jazz category include pianists Lifa Arosi, Teboho Kobedi, Ntando Ngcapo and Thandi Ntuli.