UNISA appoints a new director

The music department of the University of South Africa in Pretoria has appointed Thomas Pooley, a pianist, as successor of Karendra Devroop, who has left UNISA at the end of last year:

Thomas Pooley is Professor of Music at the University of South Africa and new Artistic Director of the Unisa International Music Competitions. He trained in classical piano under Ruth Goveia and Isabella Stengel at the University of Kwazulu-Natal where he won the piano scholarship competition before pursuing graduate studies in musicology at Wits University. He was awarded the Benjamin Franklin and Booth Ferris Fellowships for a PhD in music at the University of Pennsylvania where he specialized in music and linguistics, and Chopin studies. He returned to South Africa in 2013 to take up a lectureship in music at Unisa. He is a scholar of African pianism and composition, and has published widely on indigenous song, choral music, and opera in South Africa. He serves as editor-in-chief of Muziki: Journal of Music Research in Africa and is founding managing editor of the open access journal, Analytical Approaches to African Music. Thomas is committed to advancing community music education projects for social inclusion, and to developing and promoting African music on the global stage.