Wednesday 27 July 2022: ‘Meet our Music Staff’ – Mrs Dorothy Holder.
Dorothy’s musical journey began with her father giving her her initial piano lessons. At the age of eight, she began taking the piano at school. Flute lessons began in High School, but while Dorothy was a pupil at Rustenburg only the piano was offered at school, so flute lessons were taken at the South African College of Music at the University of Cape Town (UCT). While at school she was a member of the choir and remembers fondly the choral collaborations between Rustenburg High School for Girls and Rondebosch Boys’ High School where Dr Patrick Wise conducted oratorio performances in the Rondebosch Memorial Hall. These included Hayden’s Creation and Mendelssohn’s Elijah.
Dorothy furthered her education at UCT, graduating with a B. Mus (Ed) and HDE (PG Sec) in 1978. During her time at university, she was a member of the UCT Choir and Chamber Choir as well as the St. George’s Singers and the Symphony Choir of Cape Town, both directed by Dr Barry Smith.
Her teaching career began at Victoria Girls’ High School in Grahamstown; following which she taught at Hudson Park High School and Crewe Primary School in East London. She then married Stephen Holder – a fellow musician – and has three adult children who were raised in Grahamstown. While in Grahamstown, Dorothy taught privately from home and was also a member of the Diocesan School for Girls and St. Andrew’s College staff.
Dorothy moved to Cape Town in 2012 and began teaching at WBJS. In 2013 she joined the WBHS music department as a peripatetic teacher. She teaches flute, piano, and double bass and has led the Flute Ensemble at the school. Last year she retired from teaching at the Beau Soleil Music Center. She is a Double Bass player in the Musicanti Chamber Orchestra of Cape Town.
A #WynbergMedia article, with grateful thanks to Mr Richard Haigh.
