Werner Stander

Born in South Africa, Werner started his music learning career at the age of 14 and was one of the first students to enroll when the Arts Academy opened its doors in 2003. He achieved the ABRSM Piano Grade 7 and ABRSM Music Theory Grade 6 levels, within a short span of four years, to be able to study a degree in music at a university of his choice. At age 15 he started conducting under the mentorship of Ronél Henning and took to stage with the Ladybrand High School Choir to win an A+ in the Free State Eisteddfod in 2005.

From 2006 to 2010 he seized all the opportunities offered to him to further his performance development. He started conducting the Cantu Maluti Youth Choir as learning experience at the age of 16 – a chamber choir under the banner of the Arts Academy. During this time the Choir toured to Namibia, recorded two albums, featured on various SABC2s programmes and performed with the Free State Symphony Orchestra.

As director of various choirs since 2018 to date, he has toured internationally, won highest accolades in the World Choir Games 2018 and the national ATKV Applous competition. He has conducted major choral works with his choirs and the Free State Symphony Orchestra, with his oevre spanning, amongst others, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Fauré’s Requiem, Brahms’s Ein Deutches Requiem, Bach’s Jesu meine freude to Mozart’s Requiem, Spatzenmesse and Missa in honorem sanctissimae. Today, Werner holds a BMus, BMus (Hons), MMus and are busy with his PhD in choral directing.

This young and upcoming conductor is currently the director of music at Oranje Primary School for Girls and the newly appointed Director of the Bloemfontein Children’s Choir. He has been appointed at the Director of the University of the Free State Choir at the start of 2023. He has toured successfully with the Bloemfontein Childrens Choir to Belgium, Germany and France in 2022, and with the UFS Choir to Sweden in 2023.