Zomari Duo

The Zomari Duo consists of highly acclaimed instrumentlists Bridget Rennie on flute, and guitarist James Grace.  The duo performs together at concerts and festivals.

James Grace studied at the Royal College of Music in London with Carlos Bonell. He is the first ever guitarist to receive the Tagore Gold Medal, an annual award given by the College to the most outstanding student.  Born in England, James started playing the guitar at the age of six. Two years later he moved with his family to South Africa, where he began studying with Dietrich Wagner in Stellenbosch. He also met and started to play with local flamenco guitarist Saudiq Khan. This was the beginning of a long term playing partnership which has recently culminated in their first album; Granasturias, a fusion of classical and flamenco guitar music. 

At twelve years old James was the first guitarist to win the Sanlam National Music Competition, and shortly before leaving Cape Town in 1997 to begin his studies in London, James won first prize in the South African National Guitar Competition.  Since then James has played to audiences throughout South Africa, Europe, the United States and the Middle East. His repertoire encompasses a wide range of music, from traditional classical to his own arrangements of Spanish and South American popular music.  He has appeared on radio and television broadcasts worldwide and has recorded for Britains’ Classic FM, Channel 4 and the SABC.   He also spent  two years in Doha, in the Arabian state of Qatar, where he was the guitar teacher at an International Music Centre. James currently teaches at the Hugo Lambrechts Music Centre, and at the University of Cape Town.  He made his debut performance with the Cape Phiharmonic as the soloist in Rodrigo’s Concerto de Aranjuez in November 2004.

Bridget Rennie-Salonen was the Solo Principal Flute of the former Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra in which capacity she was the recipient of the Ben & Faye Carklin Award for Artistic Excellence.  She is a unique flautist with a rich experience in music performance and education.  A well known soloist and chamber musician, she holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree and the Post-graduate Diploma in Performance (with distinction) from the University of Cape Town, as well as a Performer’s Licentiate from the Royal Schools of Music.  She studied with Eva Tamassy, Beat Wenger, and Lucien Grujon, and has had masterclasses with William Bennett, Susan Milan, Shigenori Kudo, and Peter-Lukas Graf.  As a student at UCT she was placed on the Dean’s Merit List for academic excellence, and while completing the Performance Diploma, was a finalist in the Oude Meester Music Prize competition.  

During the course of her career, Bridget has performed as soloist with the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra (Capab), the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra, the Cape Town Baroque Ensemble, the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra (an acclaimed performance of Mozart’s Flute Concerto No. 1), and most recently with the new Cape Philharmonic.  Bridget, who has extensive teaching experience at all levels, teaches at the University of Cape Town, and at the Beau Soleil Music Centre.  As one of South Africa’s leading exponents of the flute, she is frequently invited to act as adjudicator or external examiner.