BRIDGET RENNIE-SALONEN
An award-winning flautist and academic, with extensive and diverse music education experience, Dr Rennie-Salonen is a sought-after pedagogue, performer, and researcher. Her internationally connected interdisciplinary research in performing arts health and optimal artistic performance is ground-breaking for South Africa. Flautist, lecturer, researcher, and musicians’ health practitioner, Bridget is an artist who is passionate about both the meaning of the performing arts in society and the meaning of the performing arts for the artists themselves. She is a Senior Lecturer and Head of Woodwinds at the Music Department of Stellenbosch University.
PERFORMANCE CAREER
Bridget Rennie Salonen’s studies at UCT and abroad equipped her with multiple qualifications and honours. She is highly regarded in the SA classical arena as a solo, chamber and freelance flautist. As the former Solo Principal Flute of the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, Bridget was the recipient of the prestigious Ben & Faye Carklin Award for Artistic Excellence. Regarded as one of South Africa’s finest flautists, Bridget has performed as soloist with the Capab Orchestra, the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra, the Cape Town Baroque Ensemble, the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, the Cape Town Baroque, the Cape Philharmonic, the Stellenbosch Camerata and the Eastern Cape Philharmonic.
She is part of several chamber groups; ‘Trio With a Twist’ with Janine Neethling and Lizzie Rennie, the Duo ‘Zomari’, with guitarist James Grace, Cape Town Baroque, the Cavatina Quartet (flute and strings), the ‘Gabriel Duo’ with harpist Gaylen Sales and also ‘The Little Winds’ wind quintet. Bridget has also collaborated with many other top musicians, such as Albie van Schalkwyk, Janelle Visagie, Magdaleen Minnaar, Jose Dias, Tertia Visser-Downie, Francois du Toit, Hendrik Hofmeyr, Quentin Crida, Marian Lewin and Peter Martens, to name but a few.
Bridget is also an experienced studio session musician and has contributed to numerous recordings of a wide variety of genres, amongst others Lloyd-Webber’s ‘Cats’, Neethling/Opperman’s ‘Tree Aan’, Lizzie Rennie’s score for ‘Material’ and Grant McLachlan’s scores for ‘Ocean Odyssey’, ‘Cosmic Africa’ and ‘Faith like Potatoes’.
Bridget has a vast orchestral experience of over thirty years. She worked full time initially in an opera and ballet orchestra, then in a predominantly symphony orchestra. Now active as a freelance flautist, she is also the Principal Flute of the Cape Town Pops Orchestra. Bridget displays astounding musical versatility in any music genre, whether on stage or in studio. She is equally at home playing in a Symphony Orchestra concert hall as she is featured in ‘Skouspel’ at Sun City’s Superbowl, or playing a concerto in Kruger National Park at ‘Baroque in the Bush’.