Gerhard Joubert – younger son of the concert pianist Liza Joubert – who was the inspiration behind the song “Lisa se klavier”, will perform his final classical piano concert before he leaves for Switzerland at The Villa Pascal Guesthouse in Durbanville on Sunday 10 August.
Joubert, a piano prodigy, will perform French cornerstones of the piano repertoire, including works by Fauré, Debussy, Ravel and Liszt.
He has been accepted at the Basel Hochschule für Musik in Switzerland to pursue a masters degree in performance, beginning in September.
Laureate of many music competitions
Joubert is a laureate of many national music competitions, including first prizes in the Pieter Kooij Competition (2018), Atterbury National Piano Competition (2021) and the Johann Vos Open Category (2022). The Laura Searle prize for piano concerto playing has been awarded to him twice – in 2021 and 2023. In 2021 he received the first prize at the National Youth Music Competition after performing Liszt’s first piano concerto with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO) under the baton of Brandon Phillips in the final round.
In 2023 Gerhard received the first prize and a special award for the best performance of a classical sonata at the 7th Unisa National Piano Competition. In 2021 he recorded the Schumann Piano Concerto with Bernhard Gueller, conducting the CPO. The prestigious Human Naudé Music Scholarship was awarded to him in 2023.
Gerhard frequently collaborates with singers and instrumentalists, receiving the first prize and other special awards with singer Janice van Rooy at the inaugural Neues Lied Competition for Art Song Duos held in 2022 and performing Brahms’ Piano Quintet in the final round of the Schock Foundation Prize for Chamber Music of 2024.
Recent concerts include two performances of Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto at the Maynardville Open-Air Festival 2025, three performances of Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto in collaboration with Cape Ballet Africa and the CPO, as well as a performance of the complete Nocturnes for piano by Gabriel Fauré in May 2025 as a celebration of the composer’s 180th birthday.
Honours degree
In 2024 Gerhard completed his honours degree under the tutelage of Prof François du Toit at the South African College of Music, having studied with him since 2017.
He has received masterclasses from pianists Albie van Schalkwyk, Esthea Kruger, Jan Hugo, Kate Liu, Emanuil Ivanov, Antonio Pompa-Baldi, Florian Uhlig, Henri Sigfridsson, Bernd Goetzke and Jan Jiracek von Arnim amongst others.
Tickets cost R250 per person, including coffee or tea and cake. The doors open at 15:00 and the concert starts promptly at 16:00.
Villa Pascal does not sell alcohol and guests are welcome to bring their own. Picnic hampers or baskets are not allowed. Seating is limited.
Book in advance with Eugene on 021 975 2566, 082 569 4147 or villapascalguesthouse@gmail.com.
