Biography

Louise du Toit, the youngest child of musical, artistic parents, was born and raised in South Africa. All throughout her school years, she studied classical piano and violin, taking part in recitals and concerts with youth orchestras and acting and singing in theater and musical plays with National Arts Companies, always drawing pictures in between with her father. She toured South Africa and Europe, winning many cultural awards for her contribution to the Arts. At university she studied Acting and Theater Arts, which included stage and costume design. Continuing her music and vocal lessons, she played lead parts in musicals for the UOFS and PACOFS, sang in operas and concerts for PACOFS and wrote, produced and directed theater plays, winning more awards. After obtaining her degree, she performed as a freelance actress, singer and musician in South Africa. She collaborated with gifted artists like Mauritz Lotz, Lulu Gontsana, Glen Mafoko, Surendran Reddy, Louis van Rensburg, Lochner de Kock, Richard van der Westhuizen and many other well-known musicians and artists, doing radio and television work, recording her own music with the orchestras of the South African Broadcasting Corporation and also writing and illustrating a music songbook with African themes and lyrics. Winning a national song writing competition in Africa was the key to moving abroad. In Athens she worked as a singer, pianist and violinist, also performing at the Residence of the South African Ambassador in Greece on several occasions. She took part in many radio and television advertisements in Athens while performing nightly in different venues. She formed the group, Committee 3, with Spiros Papaspirou and Edmund Diolulu, co-writing and recording an album, ‘Alright’, which recently had many rave reviews from all over the world. She also produced and recorded an album, ‘Moments’, with Christos Koulouridis in Greece. Since obtaining her degree in Opera in Greece a few years ago, she has been giving vocal lessons to numerous students and professional singers. For seven months of the year, she performs to a cosmopolitan audience as a member of three different musical groups (a duo, a trio and an 8-member band) and occasionally sings with a symphonic orchestra of more than 50 members. Apart from her musical career, she also continues her work as a drawing artist. In May 2007, she had her first art exhibition in Greece, introducing us to the advanced technique of combining colorful drawings, paper-cutting and collage with subjects drawn from nature, landscapes and life in her beloved continent of origin, Africa. She completed a collection of 10 songs about African animals, writing the lyrics in Greek, to accompany some of her paintings at her second exhibition in 2008, which was held at the Municipal Gallery in Greece, under the title of ‘The Colors of Africa’. Another collection of 14 piano compositions accompanied 14 of her animal paintings, together with short stories based on her childhood memories from South Africa. This collection of compositions, drawings and stories will be released as a colorful book in the future. Her last exhibition was in Athens in September 2008, at the beautiful Residence of the South African Ambassador, during which she also did a performance of traditional African songs. She continues her concerts representing South Africa in Greece, having been invited to perform again at the National Heritage Day in September 2009 in Athens. Her latest collaboration is with classical composer and guitarist, Nikos Piperis, forming the group Aineshana. Their CD and music video, 'my heart is a Sea', will be released soon.


MC RYDEL FROM IMRADIO WROTE THE FOLLOWING ABOUT HER: REVIEW JUNE 2009 FOR LOUISE DU TOIT - FEATURED ARTIST SHOWCASE - IMRADIO 'One of the most beautiful voices in Europe comes from Athens and belongs to Louise du Toit. Completely original and interesting, Louise composes “smooth rhythms, strong melodies, subtle sounds and meaningful lyrics”. Her songs “Just Love” “Crime” “Inside” won a South African songwriting competition. Louise has recently formed the group AINESHANA with co-composer and classical guitarist, Nikos Piperis. She performs nightly in Athens. Watch for the release of her new CD and music video, and listen for Louise on IMRadio.'