Hannes Taljaard was born in 1971 in Venda, the northernmost part of South Africa. He very soon developed a consuming interest in music which grew from the friendly soil of a rich musical environment at home. His formal music education was started in Potchefstroom at the age of seven and he attempted composition for the first time after his third recorder lesson: an experiment in triple meter and quarter notes using the permutations of the tones G, A and B. He has been working diligently on those (and other) permutations for the past three decades.
He completed his D.Mus. in Composition at the North-West University in South Africa in November 2007 where he is currently a Senior Lecturer in Music Theory and Composition. His compositions are performed in South Africa, since 1998 in Europe, and since 2005 in North America. Since 2006 he has taught as guest lecturer, mainly in Composition, in Oslo, Montreal, Tiffin, Raleigh, Panama City, Jyvaskyla and London, as well as various universities in South Africa.
