Artist, Hofmeyr, Honoured As a Judge

22 July 2011

Windhoek — A great honour has been bestowed upon local arts personality, Retha-Louise Hofmeyr, Director of Arts in the Ministry of Youth, National Service, Sport and Culture, when she was invited to serve as a judge on the panel of the 4th University of South Africa (Unisa) National Piano Competition held in South Africa this month. She is the first Namibian to be invited to serve on a Unisa competition jury.

This very prestigious competition is presented to give young South African pianists experience with the requirements and procedures of an international piano competition.

The intention is that the preparation for and participation in this event will toughen the nerves and stamina of competitors for possible participation in the 12th Unisa International Piano Competition 2012.

For this reason the repertoire requirements correspond very closely to that of the 2012 international piano competition, and competitors are subjected to the same adjudication criteria and processes applicable to international piano competitions.

Hofmeyr’s music credentials made her an ideal choice to serve on the judging panel. She obtained a BMus and Music Teachers’ Diploma through the University of Pretoria (UP), and a Performer’s Licenciate in Piano through Unisa. She studied further in Salzburg and Oporto with Helena Moreira Sa e Costa. She also has an MPhil in Entrepreneurship (UP).

She has served on many international arts juries (including the Namibian Music Makers’ Competition, the Concours Pan Africain and the Vodacom Vocal Ensemble Competition in South Africa) and as examiner for the College of the Arts and the Conservatoire National de la Réunion.

As a young performer she won the Best Original Namibian Composition category of the NBC’s Music Makers Competition 27years ago. She has been the Director of Arts in the Ministry since Namibia’s independence in 1990 where her office is responsible for the development of the legal, policy and financial frameworks for the creative arts sector, and for support of the College of the Arts, the National Theatre, National Art Gallery and the National Arts Council of Namibia.

A very excited Hofmeyr told Artlife it was an enormous responsibility to be a judge because she had to be sure not to miss anything.

“You have to give each candidate the same attention, minute after minute, and make mental notes about their strong, as well as weak points. You have to put aside any prejudices you may have, for example, about the choice of the works they have selected to present and judge solely on the performance.

“I did a lot of preparation to sharpen my listening skills and to read most of the scores of the works that were to be performed because I have not been working that closely with piano repertoires in recent years.

“Being part of the jury made me realise how enriching it is to be in an environment where music is presented at such a high standard.

My fellow judges all have extensive experience in judging at an international level, and in general, there was consensus amongst us about the placement of the candidates.

Her fellow jury members included Bongani Ndodana, composer, John Roos, Artistic Director of the UNISA National and International Music Competitions, Helena van Heerden, concert pianist, and Nicol Viljoen, pianist and Head of the Music Department of the University of the Free State.

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