Heidelberg professors accepted into international music academy & festival

TIFFIN - Typically, the prestigious PianoTexas International Academy & Festival, formerly known as the TCU/Cliburn Piano Institute, accepts soloists into its young artists program, but Heidelberg College music professors and married couple Pierre van der Westhuizen and Sophié Grobler are breaking the norm, being accepted as a duo.

Breaking the norm is actually the norm for the duo. Grobler and van der Westhuizen, assistant professors of piano, are one of only three ensembles accepted into the Artist Diploma program at the College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati.

"I am very excited about the fact that we get to go as a pair and get to share the experience together ... it'll be great fun," says van der Westhuizen. "The program is usually for soloists. So far, duos are not the norm but we took the chance in auditioning as a duo," he added. It proved to be well worth the chance.

"I feel very honored to be accepted into the program and look forward to the people we will meet," said Grobler.
In addition to meeting international artists, participating in masterclasses with world renowned performers and traveling all around the Dallas area, the couple has the opportunity to be chosen as one of six artists to perform a complete concerto in two public concerts with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra.

Founded in 1981, Piano Texas International Academy & Festival is renowned for imparting musical insights and an understanding of the professional music world to talented young pianists, dedicated teachers and passionate amateurs.

The Young Artists Program, which will run from June 2-25, is designed for gifted young pianists up to age 30 to experience the art of performing in a professional, competitive environment. Following a stringent screening procedure, the selected artists are admitted into the program with scholarships.

The Westhuizen Duo has also been awarded a grant through the Aigler Fund at Heidelberg, enabling them to record a CD in Cincinnati after the festival.

The pair made a highly successful debut in 2001 in the Ford Theater in Youngstown, with Barták's Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion. Successive performances took them to Cincinnati, where they were invited to perform on the opening night of the international new music festival MUSIC03. The duo has performed with the CCM Wind Symphony, and the Challenging Performances Concert Series, Music at Covenant, PianoFest Cincinnati as well as Kent State University's Composer's Concert Series.

In 2004, they were invited to perform at an international duo-piano festival in Valence, France. They also completed a critically acclaimed tour of South Africa, with performances at the University of Potchefstroom and in Cape Town's Baxter Theater from July-August 2004. Repeated in 2005, the tour received rave reviews and lead to invitations to appear again in 2006 at the National Arts Festival in Bloemfontein, South Africa.

Other performances include recitals at the University of Alabama, and an appearance as featured artists at Cincinnati's Fine Arts Sampler weekend.

The South African natives both earned bachelor of music degrees in 2000 from the University of Potchefstroom, South Africa. The recipients of several awards and prizes during their undergraduate years, Westhuizen and Grobler performed at the OBELISK South African Music concert series, and were also featured soloists with the National Chamber Orchestra.

In 2002, Westhuizen won an international competition to perform as soloist and chamber musician at the prestigious Rome Festival in Italy, and he was a winner at the Tuesday Musical Competition in Akron in 2003.

A recipient of a grant from the National Research Foundation, Grobler's performances were aired on WYSU Youngstwon Radio and WCLV Cleveland Radio. Other performances include the South African Music Concert at the Butler Institute of Art and as soloist with the Youngstown State University Wind Ensemble.