Waldo began piano studies at the age of eight and shortly after he started to accompany choirs while still in primary school. He appeared on the honorary roll of UNISA’s performance exams on several occasions, including the final exam, for which he won the Robert Clough scholarship. The SABC invited him at the age of seventeen to record for the radio programme Ons jeug maak musiek.

Waldo enrolled for a BMus degree at the North-West University in 1991 to study piano with Prof Gerhard Koornhof. He majored in piano performance, music history, pedagogy and mathematics, and received several scholarships as a student. Having passed the ABRSM Grade 8 examination with highest distinction, Waldo was awarded an international scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music in London where he completed a BMus degree in piano performance under Hamish Milne and Patsy Toh, and also obtained the LRAM with honours.

On his return to South Africa, Waldo obtained a BMus cum laude at the North-West University, the UNISA Performance Licentiate with distinction, and completed an MMus degree in piano performance, cum laude in 2004 under Truida van der Walt and Prof Bertha Spies. He participated in master classes with Helmut Deutsch (Austria), Joseph Banowetz (USA), Frank Heneghan (Ireland), Thomas Hecht (NZ), Timothy Ehlen (USA), and Caroline Oltmanns (USA). In 2007 Waldo also performed in master classes at Princeton University (USA) presented by Ilya Itin of the Golandsky Institute.

He often receives great critical acclaim as chamber musician and as an accompanist at arts festivals in Grahamstown and Potchefstroom as well as in Mimi Coertse’s An die Musik Lieder series. In 2005 and 2006 Waldo was an official accompanist during the National and International UNISA Singing Competitions. Performances with orchestra include concerti with the Pro Musica orchestra and the former COSA (Chamber Orchestra of South Africa). He recently released a recording on his YouTube channel of miniature pieces for violin and piano with his colleague, Prof Piet Koornhof (violin).

Waldo obtained a DMus in piano performance in 2014 and is an Associate Professor in Piano and Piano Pedagogy. He is also a postgraduate supervisor with a focus on practice-based and practice-led research, and has delivered papers nationally and internationally on topics such as pianism and deliberate practice, learning theories, and philosophies of interpretation.

In his free time, Waldo enjoys reading, art, and gardening. As a long-distance runner, he has completed several ultra-marathons, including four Comrades Marathons. He is married to Elsabe, a lecturer in Mathematics at Akademia in Pretoria.

[2024-07-30]