Woodwind

The Beau Soleil Music Centre was officially opened on 15th April 1983 by the Western Cape Education Department to meet the needs of specialised instrumental music tuition in the Cape Town area. It was the first Music Centre of its kind to be set up in the Western Cape. It is housed in an old manor house called “Beau Soleil” in Kenilworth, which was built in 1877 and declared a National Monument, after major restoration in 1982.

From the outset, the guiding ethic of the Beau Soleil Music Centre has been to enrich the lives of young people through music education. This policy has been enthusiastically applied by the staff throughout the past 31 years. The number of pupils attending has grown from the initial 100 to presently ± 400 pupils.

Tuition is provided by 7 full-time members of staff and 30 part time instrumental specialist teachers drawn from the top performing instrumentalists in Cape Town, the majority of whom are also involved as music examiners and adjudicators of competitions. Both the full time staff and part time staff are all accomplished performers who regularly perform in a wide range of musical genre from the classical to the light music styles. It is with great pride that that the Music Centre can boast such top flight artists among their teaching staff. Staff members include Marina Louw (Principal) who is a sought after chamber musician and active in various chamber courses around South Africa and a UNISA examiner), Merlin McDonald (Head of Brass), John Rojas (Head of Woodwinds and acclaimed multi woodwind instrumentalist and conductor), Kathleen Garrity (String Teacher and Project Manager of Outreach Programmes), Maya Maile (String Teacher), Sandra Kettle-Loubser (Accompanist at the Music Centre who regularly performs with top local and international soloists and also a UNISA examiner) and David West (Percussion and Drum Kit Teacher).