Apolline Niay-Darroll

Apolline Niay-Darroll (1868-1920). British-born concert pianist, lecturer and composer

Biography

Born Apolline Niay in Sutton Coldfield, England, December 5, 1868 ; died in Cape Town, January 20, 1920.

She received her first piano lessons from her father, Gustave Niay and later studied under Adam Wright and Dr. Swinnerton Heap in Birmingham. She received the senior certificate at the Royal Academy of Music at the age of 14. In 1883 she made her debut as a concert pianist in Birmingham, subsequently touring Scotland and the north of England.

She came to South Africa at the end of 1893.

Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance

Before the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer War in 1899, she established the Eisteddfod in Cape Town. South African College of Music (SACM) was founded by a group of musicians led by Madame Apolline Niay-Darroll, opened in 1910 in Strand Street, Cape Town, with six students. She became its first principal.

She was also instrumental in the founding of the Music Teachers’ Association of South Africa. Some of her compositions were published in Cape Town.