Born in Johannesburg, I spent the greater part of my childhood in Piet Retief a small town in Mpumalanga, South Africa. I completed my classical music education in piano extramurally and in 1998 was faced with the decision of whether to go full-time into music or not. I however decided on a business course at Stellenbosch, reasoning that I needed some form of financial security. I completed my Actuarial Science honours degree in 2002. I relocated to Cape Town in 2003 to commence my full-time employment at a life insurance company. I find great pleasure in the work I do, my colleagues, the cultures, and the intellectual challenges. Having said this, the piano will always be my first passion. It is here in Cape Town where my passion for music has intensified. I love the diversity in this city. Drumming nights with Europeans and Kenyans. Funk sessions with Argentinians. Jazz festivals attended by the locals accompanied by their whole families. Didgeridoo and Tabla sessions in a forest just outside Cape Town. It’s exciting! There is an immeasurable amount of talent out there which one just needs to discover. Being exposed to new music is a confirmation of something shared between myself and its creator, an overlap of sentiments, if you will. One of the qualities of music that attracted me is its seemingly mystical ability to foster the everyday experience of life and transfigure it, give it beauty. I listen to music everyday and some of the artists I really admire are Brad Mehldau, Esbjorn Svensson, Keith Jarret, Michel Camilo, Regina Carter, Dave Brubeck, Tord Gustavsen, Bugge Wesseltoft, Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin, Radiohead and as the root of it all, JS Bach. I experience some element of timelessness with these artists. I reckon when it comes to expressing oneself via music, one needs to get back to the rudiments. Sit down and do your Hanon stuff! For example, listen to Keith Jarret’s Koln Concert, he detached himself from any preconceived ideas on music, went on stage, improvised and recorded a true masterpiece which is probably one of his most well-known recordings. Take it easy, listen to everything you can, play what you like to play, never give up and one day you will be the best player you personally know.