Pianist and educator Tinus Botha has been the recipient of several awards, including the silver medal at the Hennie Joubert Piano Competition in Wellington, the UNISA South African Music Scholarship, Unisa’s DJ Roode Overseas Scholarship, and the Gertrude Buchanan Prize. He was also a finalist and prize winner in the first Nederburg South African National Piano Competition. During his undergraduate studies, he also completed three licentiates — teacher’s and performer’s licentiates from Unisa, as well as a performer’s licentiate from Trinity College.

He is an alumnus of the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California, where he studied with Jerome Lowenthal. In January 2000 he moved to Fort Worth, Texas to pursue postgraduate studies under the tutelage of José Feghali and Harold Martina at Texas Christian University. During this time, he held a graduate assistantship, and received the Lili Kraus award from TCU. He graduated with an MMus in May 2003. In April 2008, his formal studies were concluded with the conferral of the DMus (Performing Arts) degree by the University of Pretoria under the guidance of Joseph Stanford.

He performs widely as soloist, collaborator, and chamber musician, and has appeared in many cities in South Africa, the United States, the United Kingdom, Central- and South America, and Europe. He served as one of the official accompanists at the 2006 Unisa International Singing Competition, as well as the 2010 International Strings Competition. He has been an adjudicator at several major national music competitions and acts as external examiner for various South African universities. In 2026 he joined the faculty of the ArtePiano festival and competition in Castelnuovo di Farfa, Italy, where he presented masteclasses for young pianists from all over the world. He was also on panel of the ArtePiano International Piano Competition.

Tinus is currently associate professor of piano at North-West University in Potchefstroom, as well as president of the South African chapter of the World Piano Teachers Association. He was the editor of The South African Music Teacher from 2018 to 2021, and his essays have been published in The South African Music Teacher, Clavier Companion, Piano Magazine, and The Piano Journal.

His debut album, Winding Inward, was released on major streaming platforms in 2025. It is dedicated to the memory of his mentor and friend, Joseph Stanford, who passed away in 2025. A second album, Book 1 of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, is forthcoming on the Odradek Label.

[2026-09-12]