Roger Argente
Head of Brass Performance
Job Role: Violin Tutor
Department: Strings
Honours: MMus, Dip Koeln
Johannesburg-born André Swanepoel enjoys a varied career as chamber musician, teacher and orchestral player.
André studied with Alan Solomon, Winfried Rademacher and Charles-André Linale; had masterclasses from Christian Altenburger, and received private tuition from Eugene Fodor and Ana Chumachenko.
Chamber music is integral to his role as Principal Second Violin of the Irish Chamber Orchestra (ICO), and in this capacity he has performed at the Heidelberg Spring- and Würzburg Mozart Festivals, the Bozar in Brussels, the Tonhalle in Zurich, and the Library of Congress in Washington D.C
Other chamber highlights include concerts at the Ryedale, City of London and Chichester festivals. He performed in South America for the German Goethe Institut, and has broadcast on West German, Bavarian, Irish and South African radio.
As a member of the European Music Project, he appeared in numerous theme-based all-night concert events throughout Germany. His CD recordings include a critically acclaimed live recording of Terry Riley’s legendary In C. As soloist he has appeared in South Africa, Ireland, Germany and the UK.
He has guest led Welsh National Opera and frequently plays guest principal with Royal Northern Sinfonia, the Hallé, and other UK orchestras.
André teaches violin at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff. Additionally, he teaches orchestral studies on the University of Limerick’s postgraduate string performance course (which is jointly delivered by the ICO). He annually teaches on the ConCorda Chamber Music course in Ireland, and the Xenia Chamber Music course in the Italian Alps.