Musicatlas
Music
Life
Waldo Malan loves music. Because of this love he has been involved on all levels of music since he was a child. His interest in music led him to the Drakensberg Boys Choir School, of which he was a member from age 9 through 15. While there he not only toured the world, but sang and started composition lessons in serialism with the Australian composer David Worrall at age 11. Incidentally, this was also the year in which he started with his piano studies.
After matriculating at a co-ed, pro-rugby school on the Witwatersrand, he continued his musical studies at the University of the Witwatersrand. It was here that he was to remain from 1983 until 1997, first reading for his Bachelor degree, and ending up in the School of Music as a lecturer.
Since the beginning of 1998 he has chosen to pursue the mission fields of South Africa and has dedicated his life to the call of God. Composition remains an active love and he has performances all over South Africa on a regular basis. In 2001 he was awarded his Doctor of Music degree in Composition. Many of his compositions are now also sung in churches.
His professional compositional career started in 1983 with the writing of the incidental music for “At The Gate” at the Market Theatre in Johannesburg. Subsequent to that he composed incidental music for number of shows at theatres all across South Africa. In addition he was also active both as musical director, accompanist, arranger and recording artist.
His endeavours in the field of composition has rewarded him with the following prizes and awards:
- 1987 Winner of the Amfest-Musoc Composer’s Award (Serious Music Category)
- 1991 SAMRO Merit Prize for Composition
- 1992 Study Grant from the British Council
- 1992 Winner of the Overseas Scholarship for Composition from the Foundation for The Creative Arts
- 1993 Overall winner of the Total Music Collection Composition Competition
- 1994 Finalist in the FOYSA awards
He is currently the Director of Media for the River Group in East London where his duties range from worship leading to editing Vision, a family lifestyle magazine.