Leon Piron

 

Leon started his music career at the age of 7 on the piano. His love for music was furthered in the musical care of the late Carol Mallon and Robert Small, as well as under the baton of Shawn Lyon. During high school he played tenor drum in the marching band as well as bassoon in the wind band and orchestra.  After matriculating he started studying music education at the then NMMU. During this time he also took part in the South African National Youth Orchestra programme where he played bassoon in the Wind Band. While at university Leon played bassoon in the Mandela Bay Symphonic Wind Orchestra as well as serving on the board as head of communications and marketing. Through this he also took part in the Zwide Music Outreach Programme run by TwoTone Music. He also regularly played for show bands in Gqeberha. 

 

 

During his final year of studies, Leon started working at Pearson High School teaching bassoon, saxophone and piano. He also conducted the jazz band. “This group of dedicated and enthusiastic musicians were an inspiration and showed what could be done with some hard work, discipline and passion.”

 

Apart from being involved in music, he also worked as a Producer for EP Cricket/Cricket South Africa at numerous domestic and international matches. 

 

In 2017 he was invited to conduct the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra as part of a masterclass programme hosted by the Peter the Great Music Academy and the National University of Colombia with Maestro Guerassim Voronkov. Having moved to Stellenbosch in 2018 to take up the position of Culture Manager at Hoër Meisieskool Bloemhof, he was appointed by Paul Roos Gymnasium as the conductor of Musica Perpetua (wind band) in January 2019. He also started a Jazz Band at Bloemhof. During his time there he toured with the Musica Perpetua Wind Band to Germany and Belgium and also took the Jazz Band to the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia where they came second in the Jazz category at the International Youth Music Festival. 

 

At the start of 2021 Leon took up the position of head of culture at the neighbouring Rhenish Girls’ High School where he teaches Music and Coding & Robotics. He has since started a jazz ensemble, drumline and coaches the five marimba bands.