Andrew J. Cruickshank
harpsichord, organ, piano
Andrew John Cruickshank made his mark in the South African music world from an early age as a pianist, performing both as soloist with various orchestras and as accompanist. He was awarded several trophies and bursaries for his notable achievements as pianist before devoting himself increasingly to another field of musical interest, namely that of composition. Here too, Cruickshank won wide acclaim, receiving awards and commissions for specific works.
These include: the composition section of the Oude Meester Foundation Music Competition in 1995; the first prize in the UNISA Composition Competition in 1995, enabling one of his works to be the set piece for the UNISA-Transnet International Competition that was held in 1996; and the PUK Chancellor Trust Prize, North-West University in 2006. The British chamber group, The Schubert Ensemble, premiered a new work for piano quartet as part of the New Music Indaba of 2007.
When composing, Andrew takes great inspiration from diverse literature, the visual and dramatic arts. His current occupation as a composer is to explore various aspects of the experience of contemporary living in South Africa – from being influenced directly and indirectly by the rich and diverse cultures of southern African traditional music and culture to the incredible natural beauty of the country and city life.
In addition to excelling as pianist and composer, Cruickshank is also an accomplished singer. This diversity of music talent has afforded him opportunities to actively participate in music projects such as television and CD recordings, national arts festivals and contemporary music concerts.
As musical director of the solo ensemble of singers and instrumentalists, “Mass Appeal”, Cruickshank can live out his keen interest in and solid knowledge of the authentic performance of Renaissance in particular and contemporary vocal music. Mass Appeal gave the first historically informed performance of Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers in South Africa in 2001 and during 2002, Mass Appeal performed to high critical acclaim in Durban and at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown as part of their main festival.
Although Cruickshank has held music positions such as accompanist or music critic, he is working in the actuarial software development and consulting industry, based in Johannesburg and completing a MMus (Composition) degree (under a full scholarship) at the University of Pretoria under the guidance of Prof. Stefans Grové and Prof. Chris Walton.
