Celebrated organist, composer and researcher, Professor Theo van Wyk, has been named the first ever recipient of the Andrew Murray-SAKOV Award for Church Music.
Pretoria, South Africa (19 June 2026) – Music has a unique way of bridging the sacred and the everyday, and few understand this chemistry better than Professor Theo van Wyk. In a historic moment for Southern African music, the celebrated organist, composer, and University of Pretoria (UP) lecturer has been named the inaugural recipient of the Andrew Murray-SAKOV Award for Church Music.
Introduced this year in 2026, this prestigious new accolade is a joint initiative between the Andrew Murray-Desmond Tutu Prize Fund and the Southern African Church and Concert Organists’ Society (SAKOV). It was created to shine a spotlight on individuals who pour their hearts and talents into church music and sacred musical practice in Southern Africa.
For those who know Prof van Wyk’s work, the choice feels both natural and deserved.
Prof van Wyk is active nationally and internationally as a performer, composer, pedagogue and researcher, with particular interests in South African organ culture, sacred music, organ pedagogy and creative practice as research.
However, it was a project born out of a global crisis that secured him this groundbreaking award.
Prof van Wyk was recognised for his 2024 publication, The Lockdown-Büchlein – Eighteen Chorale-based Works for the Organ, published by UP’s ESI Press.
The collection was composed during the COVID-19 lockdown period and draws inspiration from the historical tradition of chorale-based organ literature, particularly Johann Sebastian Bach’s Orgelbüchlein.
“It’s a great honour to receive the inaugural Andrew Murray-SAKOV Award: Church Music,” Prof van Wyk said.
“The Lockdown-Büchlein emerged during a time of global uncertainty, and the project became both a creative and spiritual response to the challenges of that period. I’m deeply grateful that the collection has been recognised for its contribution to South African church music and organ culture.”
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The project explores themes of isolation, uncertainty, faith, comfort and spiritual reflection during the pandemic. According to the official citation, the collection was recognised as a “significant contribution to South African church music” and as a lasting testament to artistic creativity and vocation.
Prof Van Wyk said the award reflects the University’s ongoing contribution to artistic excellence, research-led creative output, and the preservation and development of South Africa’s organ and church music traditions.
“This recognition is particularly meaningful because it acknowledges the continued relevance of organ and church music in contemporary South African cultural and academic life. The award highlights the important role that creative practice, sacred music scholarship, composition, pedagogy and performance continue to play in both communities of faith and higher education.”
Sources: University of Pretoria
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