Chris van Rhyn holds the degrees BMus, BMus (Honours) (Composition), MMus (Composition) and PhD (Music) from Stellenbosch University. He teaches Music Theory at North-West University’s School of Music and is the Director of the Research Focus Area Musical Arts in South Africa: Resources and Applications (MASARA). His research focuses on the works of art music composers from Anglophone Africa, especially those of the British-South African composer Priaulx Rainier. Chris is also engaged in artistic (practice-based and -led) research in Composition.    

Antoinette Olivier studied piano and singing at the University of the Witwatersrand. As an active performer she was engaged in professional performances and productions for Pact Opera, Salon Music, Brooklyn Theatre, Roodepoort Theatre and the Black Tie Ensemble. She appears on three of Salon Music’s CD’s and DVD, “Celebration”. Antoinette performed the world premiere of Hendrik Hofmeyr’s Song Cycle for Soprano and Orchestra (1999).

Jaco Kruger has been studying the musical culture of the Venda people of the Vhembe district of South Africa’s Limpopo Province since 1983. He completed a M.Mus dissertation under the supervision of Deirdre Hansen (UCT) in 1985 on Venda musical bows and the xylophone, and a doctoral thesis on Venda guitar music in 1993 under the guidance of Andrew Tracey (Rhodes).