Rate My Professor Heleen Du Plessis

Associate Professor Heleen Du Plessis is Associate Professor of Cello and of Music Performance and Pedagogy in the Music Programme, School of Performing Arts, Humanities Division, University of Otago, where she joined the staff in 2010. Her academic qualifications include a Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) from the University of Otago (2015) for her thesis Cello for Africa, Graduate Performance Diploma from the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, Recital Diploma from the Conservatoire de Musique de Genève, BMus (Hons) from the University of Pretoria, BMus Ed from North-West University, LRSM (piano), and LUSA (cello).

Du Plessis' research and teaching expertise covers cello performance of music from all periods, including contemporary South African and New Zealand works as soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral leader; pedagogy of cello technique, piano, chamber music, and music education; biomechanics of movement, posture, and muscular control using surface electromyographic (SEMG) analysis for skill development, injury prevention, and teaching methods; and practice-based research on performance, identity, sense of place, and performer-composer collaborations in projects like Cello for Africa, Cellists Aotearoa, and Tahu-nui-ā-rangi. Career appointments include Director, concert leader, and soloist of Cellists of Otago; Principal Cellist, Dunedin Symphony Orchestra; Cello Section Coach, Dunedin Youth Orchestra; chamber music coach, NZCT Chamber Music Contest; masterclasses and workshops in cello, chamber music, pedagogy, and movement education; public speaking on music performance and teaching; and adjudication on national panels. Key creative outputs comprise the Cello for Africa recording (Ode Records, 2013); premiere of Concerto for an African Cellist by Hans Huyssen (2013); world premiere of Tahu-nui-ā-rangi for cello and marimba by Gareth Farr (2019); Duo Col Legno Chamber Music New Zealand regional tour (2019); and commissions/premieres of works by Peter Klatzow, Anthony Ritchie, Trevor Coleman, and others, contributing to cross-cultural musical dialogue and New Zealand's contemporary music scene.