We were very lucky to have Dr. Liezl-Marét Jacobs be our 1st ever adjudicator, and even more lucky to have her return as the adjudicator for our 2nd edition. Her wealth of experience and positive encouraging comments always proves invaluable for all competitors.  

Dr. Liezl-Marét Jacobs is a highly accomplished musician with over 25 years of experience. She is known as a chamber musician, accompanist, presenter of workshops on a variety of piano pedagogy topics, and has given master classes to pianists from elementary to advanced glevels. Her students are often prize-winners at festivals and competitions in South Africa and Ireland.

She obtained her BMus, BMus (Hon) and MMus degrees cum laude from the University of Stellenbosch and the University of Cape Town, and a Doctorate in Music (Performance) from the University of Cape Town. Dr. Liezl-Marét Jacobs started her teaching career at the University of Cape Town in 1996. She then lectured at the University of Stellenbosch till 2004 and took over as Head of Keyboard Studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban till 2013. 

In addition to her regular appearances as a speaker at conferences, workshops, and symposiums, Dr. Liezl-Marét Jacobs has been a well sought after adjudicator and examiner since 2002. She has adjudicated at numerous eisteddfods and music competitions and held faculty positions at the International Piano Symposium at the University of Stellenbosch from 2004 to 2016, and at the Crescendo Summer Institue in Hungary since 2019. She was an examiner for UNISA (University of South Africa) music examinations from 2005 to 2016 and was part of the team compiling the UNISA Piano Examinations’ syllabi in 2016. 

Currently, Dr. Liezl-Marét Jacobs is running a private piano studio in Dublin and teaching part-time at the Technological University of Dublin’s Conservatoire.