About Us
WindWorx Symphonic Wind Ensemble
Our Founding and Journey
In our 18-year journey, we have played and recorded outstanding musical pieces under the baton of our resident conductor, Sean Kierman and guest conductors, Allan Stephenson, Mathew Reid, Phil Golson and Rik Ghesquière and many others, for which WindWorx has gained considerable local and international attention.
WindWorx is a non-profit organisation which aims to provide a unique opportunity for postgraduate musicians from diverse backgrounds to share their artistic talents with the public. We aspire to set a standard of excellence by playing music at an advanced level that stands as an example to the Cape’s many other bands.
In recent years, WindWorx has forged a strong partnership with the UNIVERSITY OF STELLENBOSCH SYMPHONIC WIND ENSEMBLE (USSWE), expanding our commitment to providing an expansive platform for advanced students to showcase their talents.
Amid the challenges posed by the pandemic, which imposed restrictions on traditional performance opportunities, WindWorx demonstrated resilience by establishing a smaller ensemble tailored for corporate events.
Our intimate concerts featuring vocalists Niël Rademan, Lynelle Kenned, and Amanda Osorio, along with the instrumental prowess of Elna van der Merwe in “Rhapsody in Blue” and Peter Martenz in the “Gulda Cello Concerto,” were enthusiastically received.
This adaptive approach not only allowed us to navigate the unique circumstances presented by the pandemic but also showcased the versatility and adaptability of WindWorx. We continue to explore innovative avenues for musical expression and to providing diverse and engaging performances.
Join us on this musical journey as we foster a community of passionate musicians to bring exceptional music to audiences far and wide.
The Management Team
Chairman
Riaan van Wyk
Riaan obtained his Hons B.Com and M.Sc. (project management) from Stellenbosch University and University of Cape Town respectively and works in the IT industry. He applies these disciplines extensively in terms of the orchestra logistics and event planning.
As musician he plays baritone saxophone for WindWorx and is band master of the Bellville High School Symphonic Wind Band.
Riaan is further involved with community initiatives by means of adjudication and coaching.
Deputy Chair
Pamela Kierman
Pamela is the Convener of the Wind Department at Stellenbosch University (SU) and Conductor of the SU Symphonic Wind Ensemble.
As horn player, she was a member of the former CAPAB orchestra in Port Elizabeth and has played on an ad hoc basis with a several orchestras in the Cape and Namibia.
She is deputy-chair of the SA Horn Society and WindWorx Symphonic Wind Ensemble and a member of the FASS Community Interaction Committee at SU.
Pamela is committed to community music, regularly adjudicates community band competitions, conducts workshops with ‘community brass’ and consults with community music organisations on matters of funding, sustainability, brass pedagogy etc.
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Committee Member
Peter Catzavalos
Peter obtained his Hons.B.Mus from the University of Cape Town and is currently the brass teacher and Concert Band director at Wynberg Boys’ High School.
He also manages the Steel Band Programme at this school.
Peter is a lead trumpet player for WindWorx and the Stellenbosch University Symphonic Wind Ensemble.
He is very active in Brass Ensemble playing and is a member of the Cape Town Concert Brass where he plays euphonium.
Peter is also a member of the St. Michaels and All Angels Choir, in Observatory.
Committee Member
Sean Kierman
Sean is a founder member and resident conductor, currently teaches band conducting to military musicians attending the South African Defence Force School of Military Music, based at the SA Army Band, Western Cape, which has a partnership with the Department of Music, Stellenbosch University.
He also instructs brass students attending the Centre for Performing Arts, University of the Western Cape.
He was the first conductor of WindWorx.
Secretary
Henriette Weber
Henriette is the Director of the Centre for the Performing Arts (CPA) at the University of the Western Cape (UWC).
She studied music at the UWC Music Department where she completed the Diploma in Music Teaching. In 2021, Henriette completed the Post Graduate Diploma in Child and Family Studies in the Faculty of Community health Sciences as entry in a Masters in Social Work which adds a new dimension to her arts activism.
She is currently completing the Masters in Social Work degree in the same faculty at UWC focusing on social work and the arts.
Resident Conductor
Sean Kierman
Guest Conductors
Faan Malan
Pamela Kierman
Peter Catzavelos
Riaan van Wyk
Reghardt Kühn
Rik Ghesquière
Allan Stephenson
Levi Alexander
John Rojas
Phil Golson
Chairman
Riaan van Wyk
Riaan is a founder member and chairman of the WindWorx Symphonic Wind Ensemble has been involved with the wind band movement for almost 40 years.
Starting at school level where he launched his first ensemble and studied the flute and saxophone, he continued at the Stellenbosch University Symphonic Wind Ensemble while obtaining degrees in Accounting. After 14 years at Stellenbosch, the need arose for a post-graduate wind ensemble which was founded in 2001 with the late Mervyn Solomon at the helm. This was the forerunner of WindWorx for which has been playing baritone-sax for the last 17 years.
Riaan enjoys and has been involved at wind band grass roots by coaching the Bellville High School Symphonic Wind Band since 2007, taking them to winning acclaims at local and national Eisteddfod and competitions.
To further the wind band movement he launched the WindWorx Fanfare in 2010 where hundreds of young players participate every year. He also adjudicates the Christmas Band competitions on an annual basis.
In recent years Riaan launched the SmallConcerts initiative which supports smaller and non-mainstream classical events. This includes wind band coaching, placement of players, recording and publishing of concerts and musical direction of various genres.
He has conducted the Stellenbosch University Band multiple times and is also involved in the Malay Choir movement and classical-pop scene. To ensure he had a well-founded base for conducting, in particular, he attended conducting clinics with the likes of Sean Kierman (WindWorx), Garreth Williams (NMU) and international visiting conductors Phil Golson, Richard Fischer and Rik Ghesquière.
Riaan obtained his master’s degree in project management from UCT and is currently working in the IT industry.
Deputy Chair
Pamela Kierman
Pamela graduated with a BMus from the University of Port Elizabeth (1983) and MMus (2009) from Stellenbosch University.
She worked with Children’s Theatre and the RAD Ballet as arranger and accompanist, played French horn in the Prince Alfred’s Guard Band and was principal horn of the former-CAPAB orchestra in Port Elizabeth.
She was the brass teacher at Alexander Road High School, Port Elizabeth (1986-1987) and Hoërskool Voortrekker, Cape Town (1987 – 1989). She was instrumental in the upgrading of the SACC Band, Wynberg (South African Army Band, Western Cape) and brass teacher at Plumstead High School (1991 – 1998), where she was HOD Music from 1994 – 1998.
She was Head of Brass, Beau Soleil Music Centre from 1998 -2004, part-time brass lecturer at the South African College of Music, UCT and taught in the Genesis Community Music Project.
In 2004, she was appointed as brass lecturer, convener of Service-Learning, and conductor of the University of Stellenbosch Symphonic Wind Ensemble at the Music Department, SU. She is currently a member of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Community Interaction Committee, of which she was chairperson from 2012 – 2015.
As ad hoc horn-player, she has performed with the Cape Sinfonia, Cape Town Chamber Orchestra, Con Spirito, former CAPAB and Namibian Symphony Orchestras and performs regularly with the Symphonic Wind Orchestra, WindWorx.
She is deputy-chair of the South African Horn Society and of WindWorx. Pamela works extensively in the sphere of community music, regularly adjudicates eisteddfods community band and choir competitions, conducts workshops with ‘community brass’ and consults with community music organisations on matters of funding, proposal writing, sustainability, brass pedagogy etc.
She is currently pursuing PhD studies at Stellenbosch University.
Committee Member
Peter Catzavalos
Peter started playing the trumpet at high school in the SACS Cadet Band taught by Ted Frazer. His trumpet teachers were Graham Coote and later Sean Kierman.
He studied at UCT, getting a BMus (Ed) and an HDE in 1982. Peter received his BMus Hons (Perf) in 1990, also from UCT. He also has a LRSM (Teachers) and an Advanced Certificate in Education Cum Laude (Computer Studies) from Stellenbosch University.
Peter has been involved in concert band and orchestra music since his grade 9 year, where he played in the Dukes Band for many years. He was also a member of the UCT Wind Band, the UCT Orchestra, the PAG Band in PE, the PE Orchestra, the Eastern Cape Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Youth Orchestra (1985), the Stellenbosch University Wind Band, Stellenbosch University Orchestra, and a founder member of the then Chiuso Band, conducted by Mervyn Solomon.
He did many off stage parts in operas at the then Nico Malan Opera House and played on a few occasions for the CAPAB orchestra and the CTSO. Peter was also the conductor of the PAG Band in Port Elizabeth and the Cape Field Artillery Band at Wingfield.
His first teaching post was at Grey Boys’ High School where he started and conducted the Grey High School Wind Band in 1985. Other teaching posts were at JJ du Preez High, Parow High, and Milnerton High.
Peter is currently, since 2002, the brass teacher and Concert Band director at Wynberg Boys’ High School. He also manages the very successful Steel Band Programme.
Peter is one of the lead trumpets in the WindWorx Band and still plays in the University of Stellenbosch Wind Band (since 1993).
Peter is also a member of the Cape Town Concert Brass where he plays euphonium and The Roderick Connolly Big Band. He is also very active in Brass Ensemble playing and is a member of the St. Michaels and All Angels Choir, in Observatory.
Committee Member
Sean Kierman
Sean was born in Portland, Oregon, educated in China, Pakistan, India, and the United States of America, completing his BA at Antioch University in Ohio, USA.
He pursued post-graduate studies at Wits University from 1966 – 67, whilst playing French horn with the SABC Symphony Orchestra and later moved to the Durban Symphony Orchestra before furthering his studies in politics and psychology at the University of the Orange Free State.
He was a central figure in the establishment of the Free State Instrumental Programme and the OFS Symphony Orchestra.
In 1979, he took up a lecturing position at the University of Port Elizabeth, where he initiated the brass studies programme and expanded it to one of the largest and most successful brass practices in the country by the time of his departure to Cape Town in 1987.
He was appointed as senior lecturer at the South African College of Music (SACM), University of Cape Town (UCT) in July 1987 where he was the convener of brass studies, building up an impressive studio of brass students during his tenure.
He also lectured in acoustics and conducted the University of Cape Town Wind Symphony until his retirement in December 2007.
His research interest, in which he completed his masters at the University of Port Elizabeth, is audio-pyscho-phonology and he worked extensively in this field with a local psychologist during his tenure at the SACM, UCT.
Sean is a committee member and was the first conductor of the semi-professional symphonic wind ensemble, WindWorx, established in 2005. He has conducted this ensemble in numerous performances throughout the Western Cape over the years, including at the 2006 International Horn Symposium.
He was conductor of the Cape Philharmonic Youth Wind Ensemble from 2004 – 2014, has been conductor and clinician at numerous South African National Youth Orchestra Courses and has been invited to coach and lecture for community music organisations throughout the Western and Eastern Cape.
He is past- president and currently a committee member of the South African Horn Society and received the prestigious Punto award, in recognition of his distinguished contributions and service to the art of horn playing and teaching, from the International Horn Society at the 38th International Horn Symposium held in Cape Town in 2006.
His current activities include teaching brass students at the University of the Western Cape Centre for the Performing Arts and instructing prospective Bandmasters as well as brass students enrolled in the Certificate Programme, Diploma and Degree courses at the Department of Music, Stellenbosch University (SU).
In 2014, he was awarded the prestigious Parnussus award by the Department of Music, SU, in recognition of his contribution to brass pedagogy in South Africa.
Secretary
Henriette Weber
Henriette Weber is currently the Director of the Centre for the Performing Arts (CPA) at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), her alma mater.
Henriette studied music at the UWC Music Department where she completed the Diploma in Music Teaching.
Her first appointment was as an accompanist in the Human Movement Science Department at the Bellville College of Education in 1989. Her career as a music educator started in 1990 as a music instrumental teacher in Westridge, Mitchell’s Plain, Guguletu and Montana which ended in 2005. Her passion was an remains community music for talented learners from impoverished backgrounds.
During this time, she was also appointed in a part-time position as the Regional Director for the Field Band Foundation and followed by full-time position as the Outreach and Education Manager at the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO) where the main task was to establish a youth orchestra.
Two years later she had started the youth orchestra, youth wind ensemble, a teaching programme, ensembles and instituted quarterly concerts, side-by-side concerts with the professional orchestra and schools outreach programmes in the communities and arranging transport for students to attend the final dress rehearsal on Thursday mornings prior to concerts during the CPO’s symphony season.
She ended her tenure at the CPO on a high by establishing the Masidlale Music Project in Nyanga, Guguletu and Langa. Leaving the CPO meant that Henriette would be returning to her alma mater, to succeed her organ lecturer, the late Emeritus Professor Nicholas Basson as the Director at the Centre for the Performing Arts.
Community engagement remains central to her activities and two accredited music courses offered at UWC CPA provide music education and training to talented community music practitioners from marginalised communities of the Western Cape. Currently the UWC Jazz Combo and the UWC Community Chamber Choir are the two university ensembles at the CPA.
In creating a curriculum for community music practitioners, formal music education returned to the UWC campus since the closure of the UWC Music Department in 2001.
In 2016, she secured funding for a pilot project from the DCAS for a music programme for blind and visually impaired learners at the Athlone School for the Blind Association (ASBA) in Glenhaven. This pilot expanded to include music therapy and instrumental teaching in 2018 and Oasis Special School in Belhar, in 2019.
Ms Weber’s commitment to performing arts has resulted in several accolades including the Department of Cultural Affairs Ministers’ Award for Outstanding Achievement for Youth in the Arts for the Cape Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (2007) and for the Centre for the Performing Arts accredited courses (2015); the Department of Social Development Ministerial Award for Service and Leadership. (2016) in providing access to talented musicians who do not necessarily need matric to study music at UWC; the DVC Academic’s Excellent Community Engagement Partner Award (2018) for providing access to music at the Athlone School for the Blind and the DVC Academic’s Excellent Community Engagement Individual Award (2018) for her contribution to the arts at UWC.
In 2021, Henriette completed the Post Graduate Diploma in Child and Family Studies in the Faculty of Community health Sciences as entry in a Masters in Social Work which adds a new dimension to her arts activism. She is currently completing the Masters in Social Work degree in the same faculty at UWC focusing on social work and the arts.
Recent renovations and refurbishments at the Centre for the Performing Arts aims to expand the university’s performing arts portfolio thereby creating access for all students – UWC and community practitioners – in music, dance and drama to meet the broader communities’ needs and to develop curriculum to prepare students for the world of work