By Ernst van Biljon WINDHOEK The young and very gifted Namibian pianist, Willem van Schalkwyk will give a house concert at 9 Deimling Street, Klein Windhoek, on Saturday, July 29 and Sunday 30th at 17h00. Tickets are N$60 including refreshments and are available at the Bayleaf Coffee Shop, Maerua Mall. For further information Valerie van Biljon can be contacted at Tel: 236083 (h) or 081 240 0927. van Schalkwyk will play the following works: Appassionata; Beethoven Ballade no 1; Chopin Petrarcan Sonnet; Liszt Paganini Variations; Brahms. Willem van Schalkwyk grew up in Okahandja, during which time he studied piano with Valerie van Biljon. After high school he obtained a Bachelor of Music degree at Brigham Young University (USA), studying Piano with Irene Peery-Fox. In May 2006 van Schalkwyk received a masters degree in Music at the University of North Texas (USA) and plans on commencing his Doctoral studies at the same institution in August of this year. He is currently a student of Joseph Banowetz. No stranger to the concert stage, van Schalkwyk has performed in Namibia, South Africa, France, and throughout the United States, including New York and Hawaii. He has appeared as soloist with orchestras in Namibia, South Africa and the USA. van Schalkwyk ‘s most notable awards include the College of the Arts Prize of Excellence (Windhoek, 1999) and the E. Mona Smith Scholarship (BYU, 2003). He achieved great success in competitions such as the Concours Pian’ Austral (Reunion), Hennie Joubert (Wellington) and the MTNA (USA) as well. Most recently van Schalkwyk was awarded the Audience Prize at the 2005 Louisiana International Piano Competition and he was the winner of the 2006 Scionti International Scholarship Competition among fierce competition from especially Russia, China, and Korea.