Pianist’s standing ovation for Port Alfred

When you wander down a forest path in Port Alfred and stumble on a concert pianist filigreeing the air with Bach, Chopin and Grieg, you can probably get away with calling it a magical experience. That’s what’s been happening every day this week while multiple music competition winner Isaac van der Merwe has been on holiday on the Sunshine Coast from his home in Cape Town. 

Although Isaac’s dad, Andrew van der Merwe, a calligrapher, grew up in Port Alfred and Isaac’s retired grandparents live there, this was the first time his entire family had spent a holiday in the town. The third-year Bachelor of Music student at the SA College of Music at UCT is majoring in piano under Associate Professor Francois du Toit. He is well on his way to a professional career as a performer. 

And yes, he really was properly on holiday. But, he told Talk of the Town, “As a musician, your instrument is lke a muscle: use it or lose it.” 

And so, with some help from his family, he’s ended up doing his daily practising in the beautiful Concerts in the Castle venue, Richmond House Museum and Music Room on Wesley Hill. 

A musician embarking on a professional career may practise between three and six hours a day to maintain their technique and embed a wide repertoire. And a professional career is definitely where Isaac is heading. 

“I can’t see my life any other way,” he says. 

But Isaac no longer counts hours. 

“”I used to try fulfill a quota of hours practiced each day, but I’m increasingly
realising that musicianship must work organically or not at all. As my former teacher Albie van Schalkwyk used to tell me: ‘Don’t do, enable.’

“In terms of practice, this ideally means creating a headspace in which creativity occurs naturally so that one practices what one wants, when one wants,” Isaac said. 

I feel like I can think here

In Port Alfred, on holiday, he’s doing morning and afternoon practice sessions.  

What does he like about Port Alfred? 

“It’s silent at night, and there’s complete darkness. To have no light pollution is precious. 

“And the smell of the air is amazing.” 

He’s been going for walks on the beach, relishing sunsets. 

“I feel like I can think here,” he says.  

He’s particularly grateful to Sue Gordon for making her 1930s baby grand Challen and the beautiful Music Room at Richmond House available to him and gave her and the MusEnthusiasts group an exclusive concert on Tuesday – which was also a special landmark birthday for Gordon.  

Isaac is the winner of several music competitions including the 2022 Hennie Joubert National Piano Competition. He began his musical journey learning percussion with Frank Mallows at Beau Soleil Music Centre in 2012. In 2014, when he was 11, he began learning piano with Tessa de Groote, and in 2015 he took up cello with Maya Maille at Beau Soleil, playing in the Cape Town Philharmonic Youth Orchestra for several years. 

In 2021, at the age of 17, Isaac started piano lessons with Albie van Schalkwyk He won first prize in the Senior Piano Category of the Johann Vos and was overall winner in the Pieter Kooij competition. In 2022 he embarked on a BMus at UCT under François du Toit and won the Hennie Joubert as well as the Atterbury National Piano Competition. He also participated in the final round of the National Youth Music Competition. He appeared as a soloist with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra in the finals of the 5th SA Conductors’ Competition and performed the Shostakovich Piano Concerto No 2 with the Gauteng Philharmonic Orchestra in Johannesburg in June 2022. In July 2023 he placed second overall in the 7th UNISA National Piano Competition, playing Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Johannesburg Festival Orchestra under the baton of Daniel Boico in the final round, and in August that year he won the open category of the Johann Vos Piano Competition.  

Isaac, now 21, regularly plays concerts in Cape Town, as well as participating in events such as the Stellenbosch Piano Symposium and Chamber Music Festivals. He enjoys performing with other musicians and in March he presented a programme of four-hands piano music to the Wagner Society with Gerhard Joubert. He has played orchestral piano in an ad hoc capacity with CPO on a few occasions this year. Outside of performance, Isaac’s interests include composition and classic literature. 

  • This article was first published in Talk of the Town, July 4 2024. The newspaper serving the communities of Ndlambe and the Sunshine Coast, with a weekly wrap of Makhanda news, is available at stores from early on Thursdays.