The University of Stellenbosch Symphonic Wind Ensemble (USSWE)
The University of Stellenbosch Symphonic Wind Ensemble (USSWE) was founded in 1976 by Dr Paul Loeb van Zuilenburg with only ten members, becoming the first university-level wind band in the Western Cape. Stellenbosch University alumnus Faan Malan conducted the ensemble from 1986 to 1990 and established the long-running Stellenbosch Band Festival. From 1991 to 1998, Mervyn Solomon led the ensemble on successful international tours to England and Scotland (1993, 1995, 1997), followed by Andries Smit (1999–2000).
The late Albert Engel, the Department of Music’s first full-time brass lecturer and a key figure in Moravian music circles, significantly broadened the ensemble’s reach by involving musicians from church ensembles, military groups, and service bands. After his sudden passing, Corvin Matei assumed leadership and expanded the repertoire to include more advanced wind band literature.
In 2004, Pamela Kierman was appointed brass lecturer and conductor of USSWE. Together with then-orchestra manager Michelle Pietersen, she embedded a strong social impact component into the ensemble’s mission. In 2006, Kierman incorporated an annual Band Extravaganza into the band’s schedule, in which school bands from Stellenbosch, Paarl, and the northern and southern suburbs of the Cape share the Endler stage with USSWE. Over the years, the ensemble has performed with a wide range of groups including the Cape Philharmonic Youth Wind Ensemble, Stellenbosch University Jazz Band and Brass Ensemble, the Free State Youth Wind Band, the South African Army Band, Western Cape, Simply Brass, and the WindWorx Symphonic Wind Ensemble.
USSWE has an active festival and collaboration profile, performing in productions by Niel Rademan at Blaauwklippen and the Hessequa Harmonie together with the WindWorx Symphonic Wind Ensemble, and at other events such as the Greyton-Genadendal Classics for All Festival and the Tankwa Classics. Since 2023, USSWE has partnered with WindWorx and the Symphony Choir of Cape Town in performances of large-scale choral works such as Karl Jenkins’ The Armed Man at Cape Town City Hall and Carmina Burana in the Great Hall at the University of the Western Cape.
The ensemble is committed to advancing new South African repertoire for wind band and has participated in several composition symposia over the years, most recently the 2024 Symposium of South African Composers (SoSAC), which featured ten new works by emerging South African composers. Over the years, numerous student conductors have had the opportunity to rehearse and conduct USSWE as part of their training, contributing to the development of emerging conductors within the Department. Reghardt Kühn, an ex-Matie who began his conducting journey as a student conductor with USSWE, now serves as the ensemble’s assistant conductor, and Bridget Rennie-Salonen, Head of the Woodwinds at the Department, has also conducted the ensemble and assists with weekly rehearsals. Over the years, USSWE has had the privilege of working with several guest conductors, including the late Allan Stephenson and Sean Kierman, Phil Golson, Faan Malan, Riaan van Wyk, Thom Wubbenhorst, and Robert Maxym. USSWE also benefits from ongoing artistic collaboration with conductors Rik Ghesquière and Christian Köhler, who serve as extraordinary associate professor and extraordinary senior lecturer, respectively, in the Department of Music. Ghesquière conducts several orchestras in Belgium as well as in South Africa, while Köhler serves as principal conductor of the Brandenburg State Police Orchestra and the Deutsches Filmorchester, Babelsberg.
USSWE supports departmental initiatives through regular fundraising performances for the Social Impact projects led by Music Education lecturer Danell Muller. The ensemble also contributes to broader University fundraising events across various divisions. Through these activities, USSWE extends its work beyond the concert stage and strengthens its role in social impact. USSWE brings together a diverse group of musicians who rehearse every Monday evening and Friday afternoon, united in their commitment to the wind band as an educational tool, a creative outlet, and a catalyst for social transformation in current-day South Africa.
