Hendrik Hofmeyr

Hendrik Pienaar Hofmeyr (born 20 November 1957) is a South African composer. Born in Cape Town, he studied at the South African College of Music at the University of Cape Town, obtaining a BMus in 1979 and an MMus in 1991. He furthered his studies in Italy during 10 years of self-imposed exile as a conscientious objector, obtaining State Diplomas in Piano (Florence), Composition (Bologna) and Conducting (Florence) While there, he was awarded the Zucchelli Prize for Composition at the Bologna Conservatorio two years running and also won the South African Opera Competition with The Fall of the House of Usher. He also received the annual Nederburg Prize for Opera for this work subsequent to its performance at the State Theatre in Pretoria in 1988. In the same year, he obtained first prize in an international competition in Italy with music for a short film by Wim Wenders. He returned to South Africa in 1992, taking up a post as lecturer at the University of Stellenbosch. In 1997, he won two major international composition competitions, the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition of Belgium (with 'Raptus' for violin and orchestra) and the first edition of the Dimitris Mitropoulos Competition in Athens (with 'Byzantium' for high voice and orchestra). He returned to his alma mater as senior lecturer in 1998, obtaining a DMus there in 1999. and retiring as Professor and Head of Composition and Theory in 2022. His 'Incantesimo' for solo flute was selected to represent South Africa at the ISCM World Music Days in Croatia in 2005. In 2008 he was honoured with a Kanna award by the Kleinkaroo National Arts Festival. He received the UCT Creative Arts Award for his Second Symphony – The Elements in 2018. Hofmeyr’s oeuvre, which comprises operas, orchestral, choral, vocal and instrumental works, includes some 150 commissions. Many of his works have been published abroad and issued on CD. In 2021, Partita africana, a CD of his works, was chosen as Discovery of the Month by the French magazine Classica; in 2023, another CD featuring three of his works was selected as Contemporary CD of the Week on Radio France. Hofmeyr was awarded the prestigious triennial Hubert Rupert Prize for Classical Music in 2025 by the South African Academy of Science and Art for his contribution to music.

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