Heather Brits

Admin Liason

Heather Brits is the Academy's liaison with Trinityhouse Little Falls. She is an accomplished pianist, and enjoys playing the guitar, marimba, and recorder for the fun of it. Mrs. Brits teaches Music to all Grade 1 - 6 learners during the school week, and has a passion for drawing every learner into the experience of music personally. School productions, Choir, Marimba Band, Hymn Practice and Assembly all fall under Mrs. Brits' profile. With regards to the Academy, she supports the teachers, manages facilities and enrolments, and oversees the relationship between the Academy and Trinityhouse Little Falls. This includes matters such as concerts, performances, awards and recognition.
Please contact her at hbrits@trinityhouse.co.za for any questions.

Mark Baker

Piano Online, Theory, Grade 12 subject

Mark has been associated with the Trinityhouse Schools since 2005. He is the proud founder of the Music Centre at Trinityhouse Little Falls. He started learning piano at the age of five and completed all his graded exams. He boasts two teaching diplomas: the LRSM and the LTCL. Mark studied at the Wits University and did further studies in his field of music in teaching and education. Mark is also the composer of the piano learner series 'Baker’s Piano Safari' as well as the author of music theory workbooks. He is on the board of the South African Society of Music Teachers. Mark now resides in Hoedspruit, but commutes on a regular basis to Johannesburg. Although his passion is to publicly perform as a professional pianist, he also loves teaching piano, theory, form, and harmony. He will teach online and organise occasional face-to-face lessons. He specialises in preparing advanced students to complete Music as an extra subject for Matric with a Grade 7 Practical and Grade 6 Theory.

Bruce Middleton

Rock and Pop Guitar, Bass Guitar, Ukelele

Bruce Middleton has over 20 years of performance experience in venues and festivals nationwide. He performed live on 5fm on Barney Simon’s Night Zoo and achieved 6^th place on the modern rock charts with alternative rock band Undersided. He won the Battle Of The Bands for Woodstock in 2008 with rap metal band 11^th Hour, and performed with 11^th Hour on the popular South African hit TV series Isidingo. He has been teaching guitar, music theory, and directing contemporary school bands at Trinityhouse Little Falls since 2017. In 2022, he taught bouzouki and baglama (Greek cultural instruments) temporarily at Saheti while receiving training in Greek music online from teachers in Greece. Bruce is a multi-instrumentalist and has studied both contemporary and classical styles of music on various instruments. He has also started teaching ukulele, and is forming a ukulele ensemble at Trinityhouse Little Falls.

Chris Bishop

French Horn, Trumpet, Trombone

Chris Bishop is an accomplished musician and educator. He gained his BA(Hons) and MA at the University of Southampton (UK), and his Postgraduate Diploma at Trinity College of Music, London. In 2013 Chris was appointed as the first Director of Music for the Morris Isaacson Centre for Music in Soweto, where he established the curriculum, continuing in the role until 2023. He has been a member of the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra horn section since he moved to South Africa in 2007, plays with the newly formed Mzansi National Philharmonic Orchestra, and is a founding member of Brass Collective. He has performed with many international artists from violinists Joshua Bell and Pinchas Zukerman to US rapper Nas and Grammy Award-winning vocalist Gregory Porter. Chris’s teaching approach is grounded in ensuring students develop a balance of physical awareness, musical understanding and, above all, enjoyment of the process. He is proud to be part of the Falls Music Academy and is excited to build a strong and noisy brass department!

Dillon Davie

Pop and Classical Guitar, Bass Guitar, Ukelele

Dillon Davie is a musician and educator based in Johannesburg. He graduated from Wits University in 2005 where he double majored in classical guitar performance and contemporary composition. Dillon has an ATCL Recital Diploma in guitar and is the co-founder of the African Renaissance Ensemble and the Joburg Early Music Consort and performs regularly across Gauteng. As a teacher he works with students both young and mature, and aims to introduce his students to the world of music and performance.

Eric Nkosi

Drumkit

Eric is a professional session musician and recording artist. When Eric is not making music, he is teaching music, and loves passing knowledge on to the next generation. Eric has played for SAMA award-winning artists as well as with a SAMA award-winning choir. Eric has achieved his N5 and N6 certificates in popular music performance and studio work at the Central Johannesburg College.

Eliane Jankowitz

Piano

Eliane Jankowitz has maintained a successful career as music teacher spanning over more than two decades. She specialises in piano tuition. She teaches students of various age groups and offers individualised instruction ranging from beginner to advanced levels of proficiency. Her students routinely obtain excellent results in external exams, Eistedfodd and often distinguish themselves in concerts as refined performers. Her approach to teaching is holistic, looking after the artistic, creative, technical, and cognitive sides of each student.

Leana Leuvennink

Voice

Leana Leuvennink obtained her BMus degree in 2014 through UNISA and has been teaching singing, flute, piano and music theory at various schools since. She has also completed her Grade 8 UNISA exams in these instruments. In her spare time, she has been part of opera companies performing full stage productions of operas like Carmen, La Traviata, and La Bohème to name a few. She has also been part of groups performing at music festivals like Woordfees and Wakkerstroom music festival. Her passion, however, lies in preparing students for external exams, Eisteddfods and concerts.

Shereen Smith

Piano, Voice, and Theory Online

Shereen Smith is a UCT graduate with a degree in Jazz and Classical studies. Her instrument majors are piano, voice and saxophone. In 2003 she was student of the year at UCT Music School and was part of the National Youth Big Band. She has been teaching for 19 years at various flagship music schools in person and online. Her students have excelled in Eisteddfods and in external examination boards such as Trinity College of London and Associated Board of Royal Schools of Music. She has performed locally at corporate events and internationally in countries such as Dubai, Bahrain, Israel, and Switzerland. Highlights include performing with Roger Hodgson from Supertramp and Chris de Burgh. Shereen was also part of the music production for the Miss World Pageant 2007.

Enoch (Vusi) Vusumuzi Hlatshwayo

Violin

Vusi started with music at age 12, taught by his uncle, a viola player in the Soweto String Quartet. He has performed with various string quartets, duets, trios, and as a solo violinist, playing classical music, Jazz standards, Ballads, Afro Jazz, and his own compositions. In 2011 Vusi joined the Johannesburg Music Initiative. He has performed locally and internationally with musicians like Gloria Bosman and Sibongile Khumalo, and most recently American jazz violinist Regina Cater in a South Africa/America Music Exchange held in Makhanda Grahamstown in 2022. He has also released his own album entitled 'TAKE IT SLOW'. He is currently playing for Fiddlers String Quartet which he formed in 2017. He is the holder of DIPABRSM, a diploma in performance with ABRSM. He has taught violin the past 20 years in various schools in and around Johannesburg. He especially enjoys preparing student to successfully enroll for music exams.

Warren Knocker

Drumkit

Warren Knocker is a veteran drum educator and the owner of a drum school. With thousands of teaching hours logged, Warren considers himself an expert in the drumming field. On top of teaching, Warren is a session musician and has played with numerous local and international acts. He studied through Rockschool and got his Grade 8, Level 4 Performance Diploma and Level 6 Licentiate. He achieved his Bachelors in Applied Social Sciences to better understand the psychology of teaching, learning, and playing the drums.