LIZANNE BARNARD
I have always known that I wanted to be a musician and my life unfolded exactly that way. Making music, writing songs, putting together productions, setting poems to music and presenting them to an audience are some of the most enjoyable things on earth for me.
My fellow musicians, artists, actors, dancers, photographers and everyone who gives their hearts to art are my extended family. I am grateful for the talent I have received and my goal is to try to apply it for healing and comforting in an inaccessible world full of sound pollution.
My music will appeal especially to an audience that is eager to be quiet and listen. I write music that tells stories. My classical background in flute and piano laid the foundation for me to work with the necessary technical and theoretical skill when composing. My life path so far with all its joys, disappointments, destructive lows and wonderful ecstasies is the canvas on which I paint with sound.
Singing was the cherry on the cake for me in the middle of my career after I entered and won the ATKV Crescendo competition at the insistence of a friend. To give expression to an emotion through your voice, without the medium of an external instrument, is truly a pure experience. When those moments occur during a concert that the physical body and its extensions in the form of musical instruments suddenly become subordinate to the sound / the music, then it feels like heaven on earth.
Thank you for allowing me to share my passion with you!
bio
Lizanne Barnard obtained her degree in B Mus Performing Arts (piano and flute) under the guidance of Marian Friedman and Professor John Hinch at the University of Pretoria in 1988.She became involved in the accompaniment of cabaret singers and performed in SA and Europe with,among others, Helena Hettema, Evan Schoombie and Laurika Rauch.
1993 Overall winner of the ATKV CRESCENDO competition with her song “MODJADJI”.
She forms part of the duo MARIMBA! from 1994 to 2012. The duo were pioneers in the Woordkunsgenre with their setting to music the work of, among others, Eugene Marais, Ingrid Jonker and N.P van Wyk Louw. They have released four albums and received a Radio Artes Award and two FNB /SAMA nominations. Lizanne was largely responsible for the music soundtrack of the award-winning stage production "UITDIE BLOUTE" with director Ilze van Heemert, in which the work of Eugene Marais was honoured. The production received a Herrie - Award for the “Most Innovative Production” at the KKNK in 1996.
The production RAKA with Karl Trichardt and Petru Wessels was performed extensively nationwide as well as in Belgium and London.
In 2014, she began to establish herself as a solo artist with her own production house by the name“WORD STIL EN LUISTER”. Her debut album "MIS VOOR DIE SON" was released in October 2015 at the Centurion Theater. The album was named CD of the Month in the January 2016 issue of Rooi Rose Magazine and received positive reviews.
Other productions include: “POPPEMEESTER” - a tribute to Ingrid Jonker, “TOTALLY TWINS” in collaboration with her twin sister Anne-Marie van Eeden and “LANDSKAP” with Anna Davel and Laurinda Hofmeyr. “LANDSKAP” receives the award for the best Woordkuns production at the Woordfees 2017.
A second album was released in 2017 with words set to music from the writings of contemporary writer and artist, Lidi de Waal. This album “GEVLERKTES” produced by Barnard and her son Adam Helberg or “PYJAMA SHARK”,was nominated for a Ghoema award (Best album by a female artist) in 2019. The stage production BêREBOKSIE VOL VLERKE, based on the music of this album and text by de Waal, made big headlines nationwide with the South African icon actress, the late Elize Cawood in the lead role.
A remake of UIT DIE BLOUTE directed by Henriëtta Gryffenberg and complete soundtrack by Barnard was nominated at KKNK 2019 for Best Music Driven Production. Barnard's work on “BARRABAS BY DIE KRUIS” - A Woordkuns production for Easter with text by Professors Hans du Plessis and Bernard Odendaal was temporarily interrupted by the outbreak of the Corona Virus Pandemic. These poems set to music form the material for her third solo album to be released in July 2021.
With the introduction of the lockdown period in March 2020, Barnard's facebook initiative “STUUR VIR MY JOU WOORDE – EK MAAK VIR ONS ‘n LIEDJIE” was born. This project is driven by a passion to continue to create and perform in the midst of challenging circumstances. The first two concerts were received very positively. She is currently working on “WOORDE III” in collaboration with Maroela Media and singer Anna Davel (who creates works of art for each poem-song and will be responsible for visual stage directing).