Avril Kinsey
Avril Kinsey (1955-) [1]. English-born classical guitarist, performer and composer.
Contents
Biography
Avril Kinsey was born in England in 1955. A year later her parents immigrated to Cape Town, South Africa.
Training
She began classical guitar lessons with her father in 1966.112 Later she studied the guitar under Uliano Marchio, while also studying piano, voice, drama and dancing at Bergvliet High School, where she matriculated in 1974. After completing a Teachers Licentiate Diploma in guitar and piano at the University of Cape Town in 1978, Kinsey was awarded a scholarship to further her classical guitar studies in Spain at the Universitario Internacional de Música Española with Josè Tomas (a former student of Andrès Segovia), where she obtained a Performer’s Diploma in 1979. She completed guitar master classes with Ernesto Bitetti, Carlos Bonell, Narciso Yepes, and later in the USA with Christopher Parkening (another Segovia student).
In 1982 she furthered her studies in the dramatic arts at the University of California, Los Angeles and joined the Tedd Davis, Modern City Repertoire Dance Company.
Career
Kinsey is the founding director of the Cape Town Academy of Music (2000), where she also teaches. She has given master classes and lectures for Trinity College of Music teacher programmes. Her guitar works have been performed by Timothy Walker (UK), Gregg Nestor (USA), and by Dr Gregory Newton in Europe and the USA.
Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance
She embarked on a performing career which included singing, dancing and acting in several Brickhill-Burke productions, and former PACT and CAPAB productions, as well as several South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) television programmes.
Roles/productions include The Sound of Music (for Brickhill-Burke), They're Playing Our Song (for Brickhill-Burke, 1980).
Awards
In 1981, she was awarded first prize, with distinction, in the Adcock Ingram Classical Guitar Competition.
Sources
SACD 1980/81.
Avril Kinsey. 2009. 'Music for classical guitar by South African composers'. Unpublished Masters thesis. University of Cape Town.
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