Sulayman (22) started with piano lessons at the age of 12. His initial teachers include Stefaans Marnewick, Aubrey van Wyngaardt and John Theodore. As a Grade 12 pupil in 2010 he won the Lionel Bowman Beethoven Competition hosted by the University of Stellenbosch – this achievement made him the first high school student in the history of the competition to win this competition. The following year (2011) Sulayman enrolled in a Bachelor of Music degree at the University of Stellenbosch under the tutelage of Profs. Nina Schumann and Luis Magalhães.

 

Sulayman made his concerto debut with the University of Stellenbosch Symphony Orchestra (USSO) in 2011. In 2012 he won numerous national competitions in South Africa: first prize at the Hennie Joubert National Piano Competition, Atterbury National Piano Competition as well as the Artscape National Music Competition. In 2013 he won the first prize of the SACS National competition and the piano category of the ATKV National Competition. Sulayman has performed with USSO, CPO and the KZNPO in their respective Concerto Festivals and was also chosen as soloist for the Len van Zyl Conducting Competition.

 

Sulayman completed his Bachelor of Music degree in 2014. In this year he won the Lionel Bowman Beethoven Competition for the second time and won both the Mabel Quick Undergraduate Bursary and the Mabel Quick Overseas Scholarships.

 

As an active soloist and ensemble musician he has performanced in the Fismer Hall and Endler Hall (Stellenbosch), Die Neelsie (Klein Karoo Klassique), at the Fynarts Festival (Hermanus), Tulbagh Spring Arts Festival, The Darling Music Experience, Dias Museum (Mossel Bay), St Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Baxter Theatre, Wagner Music Society (Cape Town), Casa Labia (Fish Hoek), Mamre Spring Flower Festival, Atterbury Theatre (Pretoria), Durban City hall as well as Cape Town City Hall.

 

He received master classes from internationally acclaimed artists such as Marina Lomazov, Antonio Pompa-Baldi, Leslie Howard, Awadagin Pratt, Aviram Reichert, Anton Nel, Claudia Herrmann, Jura Margulis, Yossi Reshef and Peter Laul. 

 

Sulayman was recently accepted for a Master of Music (Solo Performance) degree at Stellenbosch University under the supervision of Profs. Nina Schumann and Luis Magalhães.