Tessa Uys and Ben Schoeman (Piano 4 Hands) perform Beethoven’s Symphony no. 9 at St. Barnabas Ealing

Tessa Uys and Ben Schoeman (Piano 4 Hands) perform Beethoven’s Symphony no. 9 at St. Barnabas Ealing

Tessa Uys was born in Cape Town and gave her first public performance at the age of seven. She first studied with her mother Helga Bassel and, at 16 won an Associated Board Scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she won several prestigious prizes including the Macfarren Medal. Shortly after this she was the 1st prize winner and gold medallist of the Royal Over-Seas League Competition. She has also enjoyed the unusual distinction of working with the film director John Schlesinger on his film Madame Sousatzka starring Shirley MacLaine. In 1994 she was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music. Tessa Uys has performed in many different countries and has broadcast frequently for the BBC. In recent years she has regularly given recitals in the City of London and at the Wigmore Hall. Tessa Uys discovered the complete transcriptions of Beethoven’s Symphonies by Xaver Scharwenka amongst her mother’s scores, and in collaboration with Ben Schoeman presented the 9^th Symphony at the St. Lawrence Jewry Summer Music Festival in 2015. The duo of Uys and Schoeman will perform this magnificent work on 13 May at the beautiful Church of St. Barnabas in Ealing, London at 1pm.