Dr. Bridget Rennie-Salonen

Dr Bridget Rennie-Salonen, flautist, lecturer, researcher, and practitioner in musicians’ health, is Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of Music at Stellenbosch University (SU). She is also Part-time Senior Lecturer and Head of Woodwinds, including lecturing in flute, Baroque traverso, woodwind teaching methods, repertoire studies and orchestral studies, directing wind ensembles, and supervising research.

She is highly sought after as a flute pedagogue, and many of her former students have excelled in competitions and in overseas studies, won scholarships for study abroad, and now occupy key performance, entrepreneurial, and educational positions in the South African (SA) music sector. Bridget’s PhD focused on musicians’ occupational health education curriculum content, implementation, and assessment. As a Licensed Body Mapping Educator and Training Mentor, as well as holding certificates in the Essentials of Performing Arts Medicine and in Functional Movement Anatomy, she is interested in the interaction of the psychological, physical, and artistic aspects in performing artists, from preventative, therapeutic, and performance optimisation perspectives. Bridget is the Chairperson of the South African Performing Arts Health Association and is part of the international Musicians' Health Literacy Consortium, researching musicians’ health education and health literacy. Bridget is commissioner on the Instrumental and Vocal Music Teaching Commission of the International Society for Music Education (ISME), and on the Performing Arts Medicine Association’s Long Range Planning Committee.

A well-known performer in multiple genres, Bridget has appeared as soloist with several SA orchestras. As the Solo Principal Flute of the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra for many years, she was the recipient of the prestigious Ben & Faye Carklin Award for Artistic Excellence. Recent awards include Fiesta, Silver Ovation, Fanie Beetge Academic Prize, and Oppenheimer Memorial Trust awards. As a freelancer, Bridget is the principal flute of the Cape Town Festival Orchestra, guest principal with the Free State Symphony Orchestra, and Baroque traverso flautist with the Cape Town Baroque Orchestra. See also: www.bridgetrs.com