Megan-Geoffrey Prins, originally from Riversdale, South Africa, has established himself as a sought-after soloist and collaborative artist with performances across North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. He has appeared in Canada, the USA, Hong Kong, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, France, Botswana, Mozambique, and South Africa, performing in venues such as Salle Cortot in Paris, the Jack Singer Concert Hall in Calgary, and the Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall. Prins made his concerto debut at age 11 and has since performed with orchestras in Germany, the USA, Botswana, and South Africa. His 2019 performances of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concertos Nos. 2 and 3 were praised for their “technical precision,” “artistic expressivity,” and “transcendent” interpretation.
Prins has participated in numerous international competitions, including the Honens International Piano Competition, the Hong Kong International Piano Competition, the UNISA National and International Piano Competitions, and the Midwest International Piano Competition. He has received first and special prizes in the UNISA 120th Anniversary Competition, the inaugural Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival Competition, the 5th UNISA National Piano Competition, the 2016 Muziq Instrumental Competition, and the 2017 SAMRO Overseas Scholarship Competition. His work has been recognised with several South African festival awards, including a Woordtrofees for Best Instrumental Classical Music Production at the 2023 Toyota SU Woordfees and a KKNK Kanna Award for Best Upcoming Artist in 2009. In 2019, he was named the Standard Bank Young Artist for Music, and in 2021 he was included in the Mail & Guardian’s 200 Young South Africans. He was also featured among Stellenbosch University’s hundred most notable graduates during the institution’s centennial celebrations.
Prins pursued postgraduate studies under Antonio Pompa-Baldi at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he received the Sadie Zellen Piano Prize, the Arthur Loesser Memorial Prize, and the Maurice and Judith Kaplow Prize for Uncommon Creativity. He has performed under the batons of Daniel Boico, Bernard Gueller, Vincent de Kort, Gérard Korsten, Lykele Temmingh, Xandi van Dijk, Albert Horne, and Brandon Phillips, and has collaborated in festivals and tours with artists such as Daniel Rowland, Ferdinand Steiner, Wenzel Fuchs, Kyril Zlotnikov, Thomas Carroll, Demarre McGill, Rob Knopper, Gareth Lubbe, and James Austen Smith. His interest in orchestral conducting is ongoing through lessons with Daniel Boico.
Prins is currently a full-time piano lecturer at the University of Pretoria School of the Arts, where he teaches piano, didactics, and chamber music. He is regularly invited to give masterclasses at institutions and festivals, including the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival and the Stellenbosch International Piano Symposium. His students have excelled in competitions such as the Philip H. Moore Music Competition, the Atterbury National Piano Competition, and the Hennie Joubert Piano Competition.
Competitions and Awards
• Woordtrofees for Best Achievement: Classical Music - Instrumental at the 2023 Toyota SU Woordfees (2023)
•Mail & Guardian 200 Young South Africans (2021)
• Nomination: best instrumental classical music production at the Woordfees arts festival (2020)
•Standard Bank Young Artist for Music (2019)
• Arthur Loesser Prize for Piano, Cleveland Institute of Music (2018)
• Top 10, 2018 Honens International Piano Competition (2018)
• The Kaplow Prize for Uncommon Creativity from the Cleveland Institute of Music (2017)
• 1st prize at the 2017 SAMRO Overseas Scholarship Competition for Keyboard Players (2017)
• Prize for the best performance of a prescribed South African work at the 2017 SAMRO Overseas Scholarship Competition (2017)
• Nomination: best musical production at the Woordfees arts festival (2017)
• National Arts Council of South Africa International Study Award (2016; 2017)
• 1st Prize at the ATKV Muziq competition (2016)
•Prize for the best performance of a Baroque or Classical work in the final round of the ATKV Muziq Competition (2016)
• Prize for the best performance of the prescribed work at the 13th UNISA International Piano Competition (2016)
•1st Prize at the 5th UNISA National Piano Competition (2015)
• Prize for the best performance of a Classical sonata at the 5th UNISA National Piano Competition (2015)
•Prize for best performance of a Baroque work at the 5th UNISA National Piano Competition (2015)
•1st prize at the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival International Study Bursary Competition (2015)
•Prize for the best pianist at the 1st Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival International Study Bursary Competition (2015)
•Prize for the best recital round at the 1st Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival International Study Bursary Competition (2015)
• Prize for the best concerto performance (Rachmaninov’s 3rd piano concerto) at the 1st Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival International Study Bursary Competition (2015)
•1st prize at the UNISA 120th Anniversary Competition (2014)
• Hannah Davel Scholarship Prize, UNISA 120th Anniversary Competition (2014)
•Sadie Zellen Piano Prize from the Cleveland Institute of Music (2014)
• Semi-Finalist at the Midwest International Piano Competition (2014)
•2nd Prize- SAMRO Overseas Scholarship Competition (2013)
•Prize for the best performance of a South African work at the SAMRO Overseas Scholarship Competition (2013)
•1st Prize at the Mabel Quick Overseas Scholarship Competition (2012)
•SAMRO/Flink Study Award (2013)
•SAMRO/Fisher Award (2013)
•SASMT Kathleen Irish Bursary (2012)
• Oppenheimer Memorial Trust Award (2012; 2013; 2016)
•Nomination: kykNET Fiesta for Best Emerging Artist in South Africa (2012)
•Selected soloist for Len van Zyl Conducting Competition (2012)
•Prize for the best South African competitor at the 12th UNISA International Piano Competition (2012)
•Prize for the best performance of the prescribed work at the 12th UNISA International Piano Competition (2012)
•2nd Prize at the 4th UNISA National Piano Competition (2011)
•Prize for the best performance of a Classical sonata at the 4th UNISA Piano Competition (2011)
•Prize for the best performance of a Baroque work at the 4th UNISA National Piano Competition (2011)
•Winner- Piano Category of ATKV Muziq Competition (2011)
•Prize for the best performance of a Classical or Baroque work at the ATKV Muziq Competition (2011)
•Winner- Lionel Bowman Beethoven Competition (2011 and 2008)
•Kanna Award for the Best Up and Coming Artist in South Africa at the KKNK Festival (2009)
•Winner- Piano Category at the Artscape National Music Competition (2008 and 2007)
•Winner- National Arts Trust Music Competition (2007)
•Winner- Organ Category of the ABSA National Youth Music Competition (2006)
•Overall Winner- Sanlam National Music Competition (2001)
•Prize for the most promising participant younger than 10 years at the Sanlam National Music Competition (2001)
•Winner- Johan Vos Piano Competition (1997)
•Winner- Musicon Piano Competition (1997)
• Woordtrofees for Best Achievement: Classical Music - Instrumental at the 2023 Toyota SU Woordfees (2023)
•Mail & Guardian 200 Young South Africans (2021)
• Nomination: best instrumental classical music production at the Woordfees arts festival (2020)
•Standard Bank Young Artist for Music (2019)
• Arthur Loesser Prize for Piano, Cleveland Institute of Music (2018)
• Top 10, 2018 Honens International Piano Competition (2018)
• The Kaplow Prize for Uncommon Creativity from the Cleveland Institute of Music (2017)
• 1st prize at the 2017 SAMRO Overseas Scholarship Competition for Keyboard Players (2017)
• Prize for the best performance of a prescribed South African work at the 2017 SAMRO Overseas Scholarship Competition (2017)
• Nomination: best musical production at the Woordfees arts festival (2017)
• National Arts Council of South Africa International Study Award (2016; 2017)
• 1st Prize at the ATKV Muziq competition (2016)
•Prize for the best performance of a Baroque or Classical work in the final round of the ATKV Muziq Competition (2016)
• Prize for the best performance of the prescribed work at the 13th UNISA International Piano Competition (2016)
•1st Prize at the 5th UNISA National Piano Competition (2015)
• Prize for the best performance of a Classical sonata at the 5th UNISA National Piano Competition (2015)
•Prize for best performance of a Baroque work at the 5th UNISA National Piano Competition (2015)
•1st prize at the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival International Study Bursary Competition (2015)
•Prize for the best pianist at the 1st Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival International Study Bursary Competition (2015)
•Prize for the best recital round at the 1st Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival International Study Bursary Competition (2015)
• Prize for the best concerto performance (Rachmaninov’s 3rd piano concerto) at the 1st Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival International Study Bursary Competition (2015)
•1st prize at the UNISA 120th Anniversary Competition (2014)
• Hannah Davel Scholarship Prize, UNISA 120th Anniversary Competition (2014)
•Sadie Zellen Piano Prize from the Cleveland Institute of Music (2014)
• Semi-Finalist at the Midwest International Piano Competition (2014)
•2nd Prize- SAMRO Overseas Scholarship Competition (2013)
•Prize for the best performance of a South African work at the SAMRO Overseas Scholarship Competition (2013)
•1st Prize at the Mabel Quick Overseas Scholarship Competition (2012)
•SAMRO/Flink Study Award (2013)
•SAMRO/Fisher Award (2013)
•SASMT Kathleen Irish Bursary (2012)
• Oppenheimer Memorial Trust Award (2012; 2013; 2016)
•Nomination: kykNET Fiesta for Best Emerging Artist in South Africa (2012)
•Selected soloist for Len van Zyl Conducting Competition (2012)
•Prize for the best South African competitor at the 12th UNISA International Piano Competition (2012)
•Prize for the best performance of the prescribed work at the 12th UNISA International Piano Competition (2012)
•2nd Prize at the 4th UNISA National Piano Competition (2011)
•Prize for the best performance of a Classical sonata at the 4th UNISA Piano Competition (2011)
•Prize for the best performance of a Baroque work at the 4th UNISA National Piano Competition (2011)
•Winner- Piano Category of ATKV Muziq Competition (2011)
•Prize for the best performance of a Classical or Baroque work at the ATKV Muziq Competition (2011)
•Winner- Lionel Bowman Beethoven Competition (2011 and 2008)
•Kanna Award for the Best Up and Coming Artist in South Africa at the KKNK Festival (2009)
•Winner- Piano Category at the Artscape National Music Competition (2008 and 2007)
•Winner- National Arts Trust Music Competition (2007)
•Winner- Organ Category of the ABSA National Youth Music Competition (2006)
•Overall Winner- Sanlam National Music Competition (2001)
•Prize for the most promising participant younger than 10 years at the Sanlam National Music Competition (2001)
•Winner- Johan Vos Piano Competition (1997)
•Winner- Musicon Piano Competition (1997)