Jacobus (Kobie) Kloppers (born 1937) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

composer, musicologist and organist. He has composed many notable pieces, especially for

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

, and has been the subject of substantial scholarship.

Biography

Born in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, Kloppers completed his Doctorate in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

, Germany.Jacobus Kloppers' website
/ref> In 1966, Kloppers returned to South Africa to teach, compose and perform. He immigrated to Canada with his family in the mid-1970s in protest to the Apartheid policy. Kloppers settled in

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

, Alberta, Canada, and worked as a private instructor and church musician. In 1978, he was interviewed for a part-time position at a small Christian college,

The King's University (Edmonton) The King's University in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, is a Canadian Christian university offering bachelor's degrees in the arts, humanities, music, social sciences, natural sciences, business, and education. King's is one of 26 publicly funde ...

, that was to open the next year. The college hired him full-time to develop a music program. He taught organ, music history, and musicology and was chair of the music program until his retirement in 2008. Kloppers is also an adjunct professor of organ at the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

, an honorary fellow of the RCCO, the Canadian Music Centre and a member of the

Canadian League of Composers The Canadian League of Composers (CLC) is an organization formed in 1951 of Canadian composers primarily interested in raising awareness and acceptance of Canadian music. Its activities are overseen and directed by an executive, and by a National C ...

. Kloppers was important in Edmonton's

Winspear Centre The Francis Winspear Centre for Music is a performing arts centre located in the downtown core of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Opened in 1997, it is the home of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. The centre is named after Francis G. Winspear, who d ...

acquiring the Davis Concert Organ, a world-renowned instrument. In 2009, Kloppers was inducted into Edmonton's Cultural Hall of Fame. In 2011, the

University of the Free State The University of the Free State (; Sotho language, Sesotho: ''Yunivesithi ya Freistata'') is a multi-campus public university in Bloemfontein, the capital of the Free State (province), Free State and the judicial capital of South Africa. It wa ...

began a project to collect and house a complete collection of Kloppers' work.

References

External links

Canadian Music Centre biography

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kloppers, Jacobus 1937 births Living people 20th-century Canadian composers 21st-century Canadian composers Afrikaner anti-apartheid activists Canadian male composers Canadian musicologists Canadian male organists Musicians from Edmonton People from Krugersdorp South African emigrants to Canada Academic staff of the University of Alberta 21st-century Canadian organists 20th-century Canadian male musicians 21st-century Canadian male musicians