Pierre
and Sophié, both natives of South Africa,
came to the US
in 2001 to continue their education as graduate students in piano performance.
They made their debut as the Westhuizen Duo in the same year, with
a highly successful performance of Bartók's Sonata for Two Pianos and
Percussion in Youngstown's
Ford Theater. This performance, which was broadcast live on WYSU Radio, sparked
their interest in piano duo playing. They continued their studies as doctoral
students in piano performance at CCM in Cincinnati,
where they also continued their career as a piano duo. The duo's main
teachers were Frank Weinstock, Caroline Oltmanns and Truida van der Walt. As
duo pair they have received masterclasses from Emanuel Ax, James
Tocco, Emanuelle Arciuli, the Pridonnoff Duo and the Alan & Alvin Chow
Duo. Successive performances have taken them across the US, and include an
appearance on the opening night of the international new music festival,
MUSIC03, as soloists with the CCM Wind Symphony, the “Challenging
Performances Concert Series”, “Music at Covenant”, “PianoFest
Cincinnati”, Kent State University's "Composer's Concert
Series", and Youngstown State University's "Featured Composer
Series". Other performances include appearances as featured guest artists
at Cincinnati's
Fine Arts Sampler weekend, "Sundays at Terra" Concert Series,
Firelands Concert Series and the OSU/Port Clinton Arts Festival. Pierre and
Sophié return to South Africa
every year to perform, and venues have included the University of the North West - Potchefstroom, Cape Town's
Baxter Theater, University of the Free State's
Odeion, and the Volksblad National Arts Festival in Bloemfontein, the UNISA Music Foundation
Concert Series, and the Standard Bank National Arts Festival in Grahamstown.
Their performances have been heard on ClassicFm, Radio Sonder Grense,
and WGTE (Toledo).
In
the summer of 2006, Pierre and Sophia were the first and only piano-duo to be
accepted into the prestigious PianoTexas
International Academy and Festival (formerly known as the TCU/Cliburn
Institute), where they received masterclasses from Harold Martina, John Owings,
Jan Jiraceck and the legendary Janos Starker. In the summer of 2007 they were
the first duo to be featured as Shouse Artists at the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival in Michigan. Here they performed in venues
which include Detroit Symphony Orchestra's Max. M. Fischer Center for the
Performing Arts, Kirk-in-the-Hills Refectory, St. Hugo's Chapel, Kerrytown
Concert House, and Kalamazoo,
sharing the stage with artists such as James Tocco, Wu Han, Jeremy Denk,
Anne-Marie McDermott, and Ann Schein. Concerts are also planned for Romania and South Africa in the summer of 2008.
Pierre
and Sophié both serve on the faculty of Heidelberg College
as Assistant Professors of Piano and Co-coordinators of the Keyboard Division.
They continue to perform regularly as soloists and collaborative artists
together with their performances as piano duo. They both share a keen interest
in new music and perform regularly on New Music festivals. Recent highlights
include recitals at the Lakeside
Chamber Music Festival, and the Dame
Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series in Chicago,
which was broadcast live on NPR and PBS Television. Another exciting
project is a CD recording contract with Centaur Record Company to record all of
Francis Poulenc’s works for two pianos and piano four-hands.
