Avril Kinsey: Cape Town Academy of Music

Classical guitarist/composer/educator Avril Kinsey has performed in many parts of the world, including Europe, North America, Asia and Africa. She is lauded as a ‘master musician of unusual ability, with sharply focused eloquence and brilliance’ by Classical Guitar Magazine (UK). Her Cape Town Academy of Music is a leading institution in music education in Southern Africa bridging the gap between school and university level music while training musicians for a career in music.

Kinsey is a commissioned composer - having completed several works for the South African Music Rights Organisation (SAMRO) and FCA. She is published by Art Music (South Africa) and Ashley Mark Publishing (UK). Her DMus work is an orchestral score for a 2-Act Ballet. Kinsey is most well known for her innovative African-inspired compositions ('Guitar Music From Africa'), which include bird-calls and the recreation of indigenous African instruments on the guitar with recordings and scores available at www.avrilkinsey.net

Kinsey has won numerous awards and scholarships: including first place in the Adcock Ingram Classical Guitar Performers Competition (South Africa), the Jules Kramer Fine Arts and Music Scholarship, the KW Johnstone Research Bursary, the Senior Entrance Merit Scholarship at UCT, the Arts and Culture Trust Bursary and the prestigious Astris Award for having ‘excelled in her field of expertise over many years.’ She completed Licentiate studies (TLDM) in piano and guitar at UCT, achieved a Performers Diploma (PDM) from the Universitario Internacional de Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Her Masters of Music degree with a 308-page research dissertation was awarded with distinction.

Early in her career she undertook guitar master classes with, amongst others, World renowned Carlos Bonell (Royal College of Music, UK) and Christopher Parkening (USA). She made her orchestral debut with the National Symphony Orchestra (SA) performing Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez under the baton of Garcia Asensio. Later she formed and conducted South Africa’s first 21-one piece guitar orchestra. Performing with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra in 1996, she accompanied Luciano Pavarotti during the Cape Town visit of his world tour. In 1998 she launched the Avril Kinsey Classical Guitar Competition and in 2000 she founded the Cape Town Academy of Music where she is currently director and lecturer. In 2011 she founded the Cape Town International Guitar Festival and Competition. In 2014 she presented academic papers at Surrey University in the UK and Mannes School of Music in New York, where she also gave master classes at the Julliard School of Music.

WEBSITES: www.avrilkinsey.net & www.capetownguitarfestival.com
YOUTUBE: 'Mokoro' (Song of the Water): www.youtube.com/watch?v=dp6OcPGoD8c