Morne Van Der Westhuyzen

I was born in Vryheid, KwaZulu Natal 18 March 1999 where I began my musical journey as a chorister at Lucas Meyer Primary School. I enrolled at the Drakensberg Boys' Choir School  2013-14. I graduated and continued my education at Die Hoërskool Menlopark in Gauteng. I continued studying piano at the University of Pretoria under Dr. Brian Wallick in my high school years. I graduated high school in 2017 and enrolled at the University of Pretoria in 2018.

During university, I studied under various lecturers, including Drs. Tessa Rhoodie, Wim Viljoen, Altus Hendriks, Miles Warrington, and Gerben Grooten. I graduated with a bachelor's in music in 2021.

I am currently a permanent performing arts teacher in Centurion of which I go in my spare time and accompany for various choirs in the Gauteng province, including Canendo Project Choir, Kempton Park Hoërskool, Impala Laerskool, Springvale Primary School, and Pretoria High School for Girls. In addition to teaching, I am a church organist in Waterkloof. I have competed in composing competitions such as, the 2021 University of Pretoria School of Arts Call for scores and the 2022 Stefan Grove National Composition Competition; more to follow.

I greatly strive to work with various kinds of musicians and music setups. I worked with Canendo Project choir with the debut of my Requiem mass and the debut of Steve Dobrogosz‘ “Mass” for SA’s 1st adult choir to sing it. The competitions I completed with 1st award prizes are national competitions with international recognitions: stefan Grove competition and UP School of Arts call for score. The competitions I am competing in now are all international competitions and with this I place great emphasis on sharing my experience of exposure with all my learners. 

I completed my Bachelors in Music at the University of Pretoria. During those four years I worked with accompaning choirs such as Stefanus Roos Primere skool and later became the accompanist for Lynnwood Laerskool.