Curious and determined are possibly the words that best describe violinist, Bernadette Goemans, from Bergvliet in Cape Town. She is one of the three violinists in the 2024 National Youth Music Competition (NYMC).

She describes herself as curious but her motto in life illustrates her determination. Dum Spiro Spero is the Latin for “while I breathe, I hope”. It reminds her that she cannot give up, as “even my breath is holding onto some sort of hope,” she explains.

Her goal is to perform and share the music she loves with an audience. She sees the NYMC as a means to that end and aims to give it her all. Through her competition performance, Bernadette seeks to engage with the audience and adjudicating panel in a meaningful way.

Although her parents never had formal music training, all six of her siblings took piano lessons at some point during their school years. A few of them also played stringed instruments. Her second eldest brother trained as a pipe organ builder, working in the field for a couple of years. “I am the first to be pursuing music as my career,” she says proudly.

The rising star practises three to four hours per day. She plays a bit of piano, sings and plays the pipe organ. The violin is her favourite instrument to play but her favourite instruments to listen to are the cello and pipe organ.

According to her, she began to sing as soon as she could talk. This was followed by the piano at the age of seven. Some two years later she started playing the violin.

Bernadette says her first music teacher(s) were her older siblings. They taught her some theory and how to sing. Her first violin teacher was Tamara Rennie. Currently, she is tutored by Prof Farida Bacharova at the University of Cape Town (UCT).

Johann Sebastian Bach is her favourite composer. “I regard Bach to be one of the greatest geniuses of the human race. His music is so meticulous and artfully constructed, as well as deeply expressive. I could study his music for the rest of my life and never run out of things to learn. Bach’s music seems to reach and touch a part of my mind and soul in a way that can't be explained with words. And I don't think that it needs to be expressed in words, because the music speaks for itself.”

She doesn’t associate a specific colour with her music. Generally, there is a large array of colours she associates with any given piece of music.

The upcoming star loves hiking, sailing and reading. She also likes to spend as much time as possible working on the pipe organ at her parish where the organ is under construction. She helps with some of the woodwork and has tried her hand at tuning and wiring.

On completion of her undergraduate studies, Bernadette would love to travel and study abroad if she gets the opportunity.

“I plan to take all the performance opportunities I can get and play as much chamber music as possible. I would also like to further my composition skills, so perhaps I’ll disappear into a cabin in the mountains for a few months or years while I write,” she beams.