Our Teachers


 

Janette Nortje

Janette studied through UNISA to achieve her musical ambitions of becoming an experienced grade 8 piano, flute and recorder teacher. She grew up in the Eastern Cape, King Williams Town for most of her childhood although she is originally from the Arctic tundra of Russia.

Not only is she musically in-tune but she is also a qualified attorney by the North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria RSA as of December 2011 – Janette is brains and beauty with an artistic flair.

As a doting mother of two young children, she has opted for the harmony of working-from-home to have the freedom of time flexibility. This suits the Nortje’s business-home lifestyle and together they are able to manage the administrative duties along with their teaching schedules at a light tempo.

Rika Cronje

From learning to play the recorder at age 6, to completing her Grade 8 piano practical during her high school years, all the while fitting in piano and violin as well, Rika has truly shown us that music is a way of life. Rika says, “I grew up in a home filled with music. My Mother loved music, she always played music and used to teach music at school as well. Even as a baby, my Mother played music to me and growing up, we played many duets together while my Father whistled”. For a while, Rika played in the worship band of her church and played in various bands throughout her years of schooling. She started off as a Classical musician, but these days she enjoys improvising, composing and discovering the beauty of sound. “I love Bach and Mozart. Bach calms me down and Mozart wrote beautiful music,” says Rika. Rika has dedicated her time to helping and teaching people to learn and grow their musical abilities while emphasising the importance of enjoyment through piano performance. She aspires to help people to understand how they are able to change the atmosphere by the sound they release.

Jo Thompson

“Be humble. Be hungry. And always be the hardest worker in the room.” – Dwayne Johnson. After a weekend at the 2012 Dan Patlanskey’s guitar weekend away in Clarens, Jo’s life changed completely. He is mostly self-taught, without any formal music training, since the age of 14 when he learned one of his first songs by CCR called Bad Moon Rising. His Father often played favourite music albums over weekends and his Grandfather is an Opera Singer, so music was an underlying theme however Jo is the only professional musician in the family. He is the lead singer and guitarist of a band called National Incident. He is skilled in Blues, Rock and Pop, R&B, Hip-hop, Funk and a bit of Jazz – and just about everything, except for Classical and Metal styles. Jo says that his style is an amalgamation of all of these genres. “I want to make a living as a touring Musician. I strive to perform on the biggest stages in the World and I want to play in the biggest festivals around the Globe, such as the Rock in Rio and the Lollapalooza,” says Jo. It is evident that Jo has the knowledge, passion and experience to share and pass on to other budding musicians.

Louis Nortje

A revered pianist and reputable teacher, Louis is the namesake and principal founder of this merry music school. Having taught at schools such as King David and the Avon School of Music in Cleveland, his expertise precedes him. Louis studied his Bachelors in Music at Witwatersrand University and completed his Masters in Music at the Cleveland Institution of Music all by the age of 26. Louis and his wife Janette are the engine behind the entire ochestra that is Louis Nortje Music School. Their passion and commitment to music and musicians is the melody on which the school performs.

Louis is accredited to teach and enter students of the highest level into music competitions. He adjudicates in the National Eistedfodd Academy (NEW) as well as other Eistedfodds.

Matthew Chadwick

Matt is a young artist who is passionate about guitar. From the age of eight when his mother introduced him to the classical piano and he later switched to acoustic guitar, at the age of ten. He immediately fell in love with the instrument and knew that his life’s journey would follow the strum of the guitar.

He plays classical guitar, rock guitar and more recently jazz guitar. Matt performs with the Johannesburg Youth Jazz ensemble on a regular basis and occasionally at Radium. The band plays at various events, fundraisers and school functions – most recently they played at the Illovo Music Centre on Thursday 31 August 2017.

Matt is currently in his third year at Witwatersrand University studying Music. He has composed many of his own songs, mostly for school projects, but has the raw talent to take his melodies further, however he is still figuring that out for himself – will he be a solo artist? Or will he be a Music Producer? The enthusiasm, talent and possibilities are endless …


Want to start with us ?

We offer flexible hours and negotiable rates between various teachers at both premises.  
Come visit us and have a look around. We’ll schedule you in for a free trial lesson and devise lesson times to suit your schedule.