LIESL STOLTZ studied at the University of Stellenbosch after which she studied in France and Italy where she obtained diplomas with distinction. She numbers among her teachers Éva Tamássy, Shigenori Kudo, Pierre-Yves Artaud and Peter-Lukas Graf and has won numerous prizes in national and international competitions in Romania and Germany.

She has appeared as soloist with the Cape Town, Eastern Cape, Johannesburg, KwaZulu Natal Philharmonic orchestras as well as with Camerata Tinta Barocca and Odeion Simfonia. In June 2010 she obtained the degree D.Mus from UCT. She continued with post-doctoral studies at the same institution and did several recordings and performances featuring South African flute music. In 2017 her CD “Explorations – South African Flute music” was proclaimed the winner in the category “Best Musical Composition” in the annual Humanities and Social Sciences Awards of the National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences. At present she performs extensively as soloist and chamber musician and teaches at the University of Cape Town, University of Stellenbosch and Paarl Girls High School. She plays a 14k Yamaha flute and was named a Yamaha South Africa Artist in 2018.

PETRUS COETZEE studied violin and piano at the University of Stellenbosch (MMus in Chamber Music with Suzanne Martens). Out of sheer curiosity, he took up the viola in his last years at Stellenbosch and was soon hooked. He decided to concentrate on the viola and in 2011 he left to Austria, to study a Master’s Diploma with Prof. Klaus Christa at the Vorarlberg State Conservatoire, and in 2013 to Germany, where he completed an MMus in Viola with Prof. Volker Jacobsen at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media.

The years in Germany especially allowed him to expand his musical horizons and gain a wide range of experience. In Hanover, he cultivated his love for chamber music by founding the Daphnis String Quartet with three fellow students. The Quartet performed at several festivals in Germany, such as the Heidelberger Frühling and Quartettaffairs in Frankfurt and made it to the semi-final round of the August Everding String Quartet Competition. During his studies in Hanover he was also an intern at the North German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. He became a founding member of Ensemble Reflektor, an innovative chamber orchestra based in Hamburg, focusing on music from the Baroque and Classical eras. After his studies he had a two-year contract as Tutti Violist at the Oldenburg State Theatre Orchestra where he became versed in the operatic repertoire.

Coetzee returned to South Africa in July 2018, when he was appointed as principal violist of the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra. He also performs regularly as soloist and chamber musician and teaches violin and viola at the German International School in Cape Town.

JANA VAN DER WALT’s unmistakable talent was confirmed from an early age in her receiving numerous awards, trophees and the UNISA Hennie Joubert award for harp, with a third position for piano in the Western Cape. Since playing with the South African National Youth Wind Orchestra at age 14, Jana has been involved with various orchestras for the next 16 years. These include the South African National Symphony Orchestra, Free State Symphony Orchestra, Stellenbosch University Symphony Orchestra, Stellenbosch Camarata, the Stuttgart Academic Orchestra (Germany), as well as the MIAGI Orchestra for whom she was the prinicipal harpist. Her orchestral experience has given her the opportunity to perform in some of the most recognisable concert halls in Europe, including the Berliner Philharmonie, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Hamburg Elbphilharmonie and the Royal Palace in Stockholm; she has also performed at festivals such as the Young Euro Classic and Schleswigholstein Festival.

Jana’s love for and involvement with music is not limited to harp and piano – she has also throughout her life been involved with a number of choirs and vocal groups, most notably the Tygerberg Children’s Choir and ProCantu Youth Choir with tours and competitions abroad. Her current involvement in the music community includes being an ad hoc member of the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, forming part of various ensembles with a number of acclaimed musicians, and performing as soloist at a range of different concerts, events and festivals. In 2013 Jana founded harpNOTED – a successful vehicle through which she pursues solo and ensemble performances. Apart from her involvement with the arts Jana is also an accomplished architect, having received her M.Arch Prof. cum laude in 2011 from the University of the Free State. She is currently a practicing architect at an award-winning firm in Cape Town.