Attie Esterhuizen

Born in South Africa in 1988, Attie is an internationally acclaimed composer of classical music and musical theatre. His works have been performed by world-renowned orchestras, including the Brussels Philharmonic, the Orchestre de Salle Colonne, and the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra. He finished his formal music training at age 17 at the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, USA, furthered his studies in Boston at the Longy School of Music of Bard College, and was a member of the BMI Musical Theatre Workshop in New York. In 2009, Attie moved to Paris, where he was a student of Bernard de Crepy at the National Conservatory of Paris. The Arnold Schoenberg and Richard Strauss operas Two Operas Pierrot Lunaire and Ariadne auf Naxos, performed by the ensemble Le Balcon, and the animated movie Lady of the Night, starring Tony nominee Adam Pascal, were both coproduced by Attie’s entertainment production company AttieStudio, which is based in Paris. Attie wrote the musical adaptation of the international best-selling book Spud with author John Van de Ruit. In 2019, Attie wrote the music for the critically acclaimed MP’s New Suit, staged at the Artscape Theatre in Cape Town, South Africa. In 2025, Attie collaborates with Grammy winning musician Bob Mintzer on tenor saxophone, playing his piece Midnight Friends, composed originally for piano solo.