Meryl van Noie

MMus (Jazz Composition and Arrangement)

Meryl van Noie holds an MMUS in jazz composition and arrangement under the supervision of Professor Michael Campbell. She is respected as a teacher and music ‘technologist’ with innovative approaches to music education and a broad range of artistic experience.

Meryl has performed across ‘genres’, including with the symphonic pops orchestra, in various theatre, corporate productions and performance projects that range from jazz and popular music to experimental and improvisational music. She has experience as a technical contributor, advisor and organiser of various music festivals and productions, including foley sound recording for a production of Hamlet, directed by renowned UK Director Dame Janet Suzman in 2005. Meryl has composed music for projects performed at, amongst others, The Baxter Theatre Centre, Artscape, North Eastern University, Birmingham miniBEAST, Infecting the City and the Transgressive Arts Festival. She has written jazz arrangements, popular music, film music and jingles, multimedia works and electroacoustic music compositions commissioned by New Music SA, the Jazz Art Dance Company, and the Baxter Theatre Centre. Her research focus is artistic exploration in multimedia, collaborative and interdisciplinary compositional projects. Her creative work is rooted in electroacoustic and jazz traditions with a South African frame of reference.

She previously managed the SoundHouse, housed at the Baxter Theatre Centre and later at the Cape Town Science Centre, teaching music technology to children. Its success over many years transformed it into a non-profit NGO and saw her earn two BASA award nominations for excellence in community outreach. This resulted in Meryl advising various organisations on music technology curriculum development. These include the Western Cape Education Department and the Sci-Bono and KZN Science Centres. She currently serves on the advisory council of the Khula Cape Foundation, previously the Cape Tercentenary Foundation.

As an educator, she has expertise in general jazz studies and music technology specialisations with combined teaching experience of nearly thirty years. She has developed and taught curricula across disciplines, including music theory and technology, jazz piano, ear training, improvisation, composition and ensemble playing. Her teaching philosophy supports a holistic approach to developing resilient musicians. As an active composer, she embraces the shifts in technological advancement, thinking about how it impacts our social fabric and, ultimately, our artistic creativity. She lectures across various course modules at the SACM, including jazz within the historical and social context, jazz theory, ensemble practice, composition and arrangement. She remains focused on innovation in music education.