Based: Cape Town
Christof van der Berg’s unique and expressive musical style kept audiences captivated in Ireland, Northern Europe, North-America and the far east. He has been described as a young Leonard Cohen and gifted wordsmith by Cape Times journalist, Dawn Kennedy after the premier of his show “portraits of a time in Bohemia”. His repertoire of well known songs is vast and range from swing jazz to Bob Dylan. Expect a performance of colourful emotion and feeling with his smokey voice and dramatic and soulful style of piano.
In 2002 Christof took part in a national competition which earned him first places in composition and contemporary music. He was furthermore selected to take part in an internationally acclaimed competition which took place in Hollywood, Los Angeles. Here he received a first place for all his performances. Whilst there he got invited to play on an American talk show.
Upon his return to South Africa he was awarded the Premier’s Award by the Free State premier, Winkie Dereko. After he completed school he moved to London for two years and found his love in sculpting. With a new-acclaimed passion for visual arts, Christof continued to play the piano at the acclaimed theatres across South Africa.
In 2012 he wrote his first complete musical “Portraits of a time in Bohemia”, based on his time living in the hidden bohemian part of Constantia with fellow artists, poets and musicians. After the well-received premiere in Cape Town’s Masque Theatre, he embarked on a three year journey around the world. He entertained many a crowd on luxury cruise ships travelling from Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Spain, Italy, India and the Middle East.
In 2014 he moved to Ireland to perform “Portraits of a time in Bohemia” in the exclusive Library Theatre on Grafton Street in Dublin. At the same time Christof van der Berg was the entertainer for the secretive lounge, Lillies Bordello, a small private lounge infamous with celebrities. This was their only paradise to let their hair down in secret.
The poetic element of Ireland inspired his music hugely but after surviving the Irish winter once, he moved to the tropical jungles of Northern Thailand to spend a year writing new music. He recently returned from a six month period performing in China, Japan and South Korea and is now based in Cape Town. A two meter black grand piano accompanies all his performances.
