About

Serendipity Strings was founded by Mietze Dill in 2015 (then Serendipity Quartet), giving birth to her vision of communicating the joys, sorrows, beliefs and hopes of the human condition by means of chamber music.

Serendipity Strings has had successful performances across South Africa. In 2017 they participated in the National SASMT Ensemble Competition, where they won first prize with their rendition of Haydn’s String Quartet in G major, Op. 74, No. 3. In 2018 they received masterclasses by Daniel Auner, first violinist of the renowned Austrian Auner Quartett. In the same year Serendipity Strings collaborated with the Brooklyn Choral Artists, performing Mozart’s Misericordias Domini K. 222 as well as debuting Michael Trotta’s (1978 -) For a Breath of Ecstasy (2018) and Katie Kring’s (1983 - ) At the Hour of Closing (2018). Other collaborative performances include those with the choir of Christ Church Arcadia and the Kings Voyces. Serendipity Strings have, furthermore, been regular performers at the annual Wakkerstroom Music Festival and the Gauteng International Arts Festival.
Works they have performed in the past, include:

- Haydn: String Quartet No. 53 in D major, Op. 64, No. 5 - 'The Lark'
- Haydn: String Quartet in G minor, Op. 74, No. 5 - 'The Huntsman'
- Mozart: String Quartet No. 14 in G major (K. 387)
- Beethoven: String Quartet in C minor, Op. 18, No. 4
- Beethoven: String Quartet in C major, Op. 59, No. 3 - 'Razumovsky'
- Schubert: Piano Quintet in A major, D. 667, Op. 114 - 'The Trout'
- Schumann: Piano Quintet in E-flat major, Op.44
- Brahms: Piano Quintet in F minor, Op.34
- Borodin: String Quartet No.2 in D major
- Grieg: String Quartet No.1 in G minor, Op.27
- Wolf: Italian Serenade in G major
- Shostakovich: String Quartet in C major, Op.49, No.1 - 'Spring'

When we are not performing in formal concerts, Serendipity Strings enjoy adding charm and style to weddings, christenings, functions and other special occasions. You can book Serendipity Strings as soloists (with piano), duo (violin and cello), a trio (two violins and cello; or violin, viola and cello) or as a full string quartet – depending on your needs. We specialise in accessible classical music (Baroque, Classical and Romantic eras), but are open for special requests by clients. Serendipity Strings charge by the hour, so to make it more cost-effective for clients.

MEET OUR PLAYERS

Carli D'Alebout (violin)

Carli D’Alebout, born in Welkom, is a performing violinist and teacher. She began her studies with Marie-Jean Kotze in Welkom and was a student of Zanta Hofmeyr for six years. Carli obtained her bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in violin performance from the Barratt Due Music Institute in Oslo, Norway, where she studied with Stephan Barratt Due, Oslo, and Ulf Wallin, Berlin. Carli is currently pursuing a doctorate in violin performance at the Northwest University under the guidance of Dr Liesl van der Merwe and Professor Piet Koornhof.
She has served as concert master of the South African National Youth Orchestra, Simfonia Juventi, the North-West Youth Orchestra, the NWU Pukke University Orchestra and the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival's Symphony Orchestra. Carli has performed as soloist in various youth concerto festivals with the Kwazulu Natal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Rand Symphony Orchestra and the Johannesburg Symphony Orchestra. She was a regular player in the Oslo Camerata; an ensemble of students and professional musicians from different parts of Norway.
Carli has attended many international festivals, including the Porziano Music Festival (Italy), the MusicAlp Festival (France), the Voksenåssen Music Festival (Norway) and the Quattro Corde Festival (Italy), and has notably received masterclasses from Isabelle van Keulen, Jan Repko and Stephan Barratt Due. She attended the Starling Delay Symposium for Violin Teachers at Juilliard, NY in 2019, where she attended masterclasses by Midori, Itzhak Perlman, Kurt Sassmanshaus and Kathleen Winkler.
She regularly plays with the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra, the Gauteng Philharmonic Orchestra and the Mzanzi National Philharmonic Orchestra, and represented South Africa at the premier of the G20 summit orchestra in Indonesia in September 2022.
Carli teaches at Cornwall Hill College, at Afrikaanse Hoër Seunsskool, and has a growing private studio. Recently she received the opportunity to serve on the board of the South African String Foundation and looks forward to contributing to the advancement of string players in South Africa.

Carin Jansen van Vuuren (violin)

Carin completed her BMus studies at the University of Pretoria in 2012 and received her masters degree (cum laude) in 2016, under the tutelage of Zanta Hofmeyr. In 2021 she also received her PGCE from Rhodes University. During the course of her music studies she received the following prizes and awards: Overall Winner of the strings category at the Pretoria Eistedfodd (2008), the Ellie Marx string bursary (2008), the Jennie Pereira prize for the best string player at the Unisa South African Music Scholarship Competition (2010), as well as the Du Toit Van Tonder prize at the same event. In 2008 she passed the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) Gr 8 exam with distinction, and in 2013 she completed their Performance Diploma exam, which she also passed with distinction.

Before its closure (due to the Coronavirus pandemic), Carin was a full-time member of the Gauteng Philharmonic Orchestra, and she also plays on an ad hoc basis for the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra. She has been involved with Serendipity Strings since its inception in 2015, and served as the first violinist of the Serendipity Quartet from 2015 - 2019. Carin has been teaching the violin for the past eight years and is currently employed as a violin teacher at Midstream Ridge Primary School, as well as being a part-time lecturer in violin at the University of Pretoria.

Tesmarie Kachelhoffer (violin)

Tesmarie Kachelhoffer (née Jansen van Vuuren) completed her BMus degree (cum laude) in 2019 at the University of Pretoria. She is currently an MMus student at the same institution, studying under Denise Sutton. Her previous teachers include Anne-Marié Swanepoel, Dorothea Overbeck and Zanta Hofmeyr. Tesmarie passed both her UNISA and ABRSM Grade 8 violin exams with distinction, she appeared on UNISA’s role of honour, and was invited to participate in the UNISA South African Music Scholarship Competition in 2016. Tesmarie was the overall winner of the strings section at the Pretoria Eisteddfod from 2011- 2014. She was also the Runner-up of Category F (19-25 years) in 2016 and the winner of Category F in 2018 at the Philip H Moore Music Competition. Tesmarie was awarded the Ellie Marx string bursary by the South African Society of Music Teachers (SASMT) in 2016 and 2018. In 2021 Tesmarie participated in the Unisa National Strings Competition and was awarded the prize for Best Performance of a Classical Sonata.

Tesmarie has been part of Serendipity Strings since 2017, and she was a full-time member of the Gauteng Philharmonic Orchestra until its closure in 2020. She also plays on an ad hoc basis for the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra. She works as a violin teacher at Stassenheim Music, Supermuso music school, and Midstream Ridge Primary School.

Lize Schaap (violin)

Lize Schaap obtained her BMus degree (cum laude) from the University of Pretoria in 2019. She is currently working towards her MMus Performance degree at the same institution, under the guidance of Denise Sutton. Lize has been the recipient of numerous prizes, including the esteemed Du Toit-Van Tonder Music Scholarship at the Unisa South African Music Scholarship Competition in 2016. She has been playing as an ad hoc violinist for various professional orchestras since 2014, including the Johannesburg Festival Orchestra, Gauteng Philharmonic Orchestra, the ‘Classics is Groot’ show orchestra and recently also the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra. She toured Europe as a member of the MIAGI Youth Orchestra in celebrating the centenary of Nelson Mandela (2018). The orchestra won the European Cultural Prize during this tour.

Lize is furthermore an experienced studio musician - feauturing on many South African and internationally released albums. When she is not performing, she teaches violin and music theory privately, as well as at the Stella Musica music centre and the SharpKids preschool, in Pretoria, Gauteng.

Friederike Scholtz (viola)

Friederike Scholtz studied piano with Prof Joseph Stanford, violin with Serge Cuca and viola with Elmarie van der Vyver. She holds a BMus and an MMus (cum laude) from the University of Pretoria. and is currently a part-time lecturer in music history at this same institution's music department.

During her undergraduate years, Friederike was a member of all the major youth orchestras in South Africa, and she also performed as a soloist with the University of Pretoria Symphony Orchestra (UPSO) in 2013.

She has received viola master classes from noted Baroque specialist Antoinette Lohmann and Mozarteum violist Milan Radic.

A chamber music enthusiast, Friederike has been the violist of Serendipity Strings since its inception in 2015. She is particularly interested in the performance of Early Music and regularly participates in the Fons Partita ensemble which focuses on the Renaissance and Baroque genres. Friederike enjoys working with children and teaches violin, viola and piano at Pro Arte Arts Academy. She is also a part-time lecturer in music history at the University of Pretoria.

Mietze Dill (cello)

Mietze’s love for music was born in Bloemfontein South Africa, where she started the recorder at age four and the piano at age six. At age 11 she fell in love with the cello and received her first lessons from Arend Brink. A year thereafter she commenced lessons with Anzél Gerber in Pretoria, who continued to be her cello mentor till the completion of her BMus degree (cum laude) at the University of Pretoria in 2010. She passed all her practical cello and theory of music exams with distinction, and in 2008 Mietze was awarded the Jennie Pereira Prize for the best string player at the Unisa South African Music Scholarship Competition. In the same year she was also the recipient of a SAMRO Undergraduate Music Bursary. Mietze has played in all the major youth orchestras of South Africa and was an ad hoc member of the Gauteng Philharmonic Orchestra, before its closure in 2020.

Mietze’s greatest passion, however, lies with chamber music and the biggest bulk of her performing career has centred around this genre. In 2018 she was invited to take part in a chamber music workshop in Vienna, Austria, where she performed solo repertoire with the pianist Martin Ivanov (Bulgaria) as well as chamber music with several other international musicians. Apart from numerous independent performances, Mietze has performed at the Wakkerstroom Music Festival, the Gauteng International Arts Festival, the New Music Indaba and the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival.

In the field of musicology, Mietze has been a presenter at music research conferences, and in 2013 she obtained her Masters degree from the University of Pretoria. When she is not performing, Mietze teaches cello, double bass, and chamber music at the Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool and she has also been a part-time lecturer at the University of Pretoria in cello and cello methodology.