Bridget Rennie-Salonen

Dr. Bridget Rennie-Salonen serves as Senior Lecturer and Head of Woodwinds at Stellenbosch University's Department of Music, South Africa. An award-winning flautist and pedagogue, she researches musicians' health, music education, and performance science while chairing the South African Performing Arts Health Association and serving as Vice-Chair of ISME's Instrumental and Vocal Music Teaching Commission.

Her research explores the psychological-physical-artistic nexus in performers through somatic education and arts medicine, emphasizing preventative care and performance optimization. As a Licensed Body Mapping Educator certified in Performing Arts Medicine, she integrates movement anatomy and health literacy into artist development.

Her scientific accolades include:

• Ben & Faye Carklin Award for Artistic Excellence
• Fiesta
• Silver Ovation
• Fanie Beetge Academic Prize
• Oppenheimer Memorial Trust Award
• STIAS Residential Fellowship
• Erasmus-Plus Mobility Grant
• SU Postdoctoral Fellow Award

Dr. Rennie-Salonen supervises postgraduate research and mentors students who excel in international competitions and hold leadership roles across South Africa's music sector. She directs the SU Health, Arts, and Performance Initiative (HAPI) and co-edits the Oxford Handbook of Musician Health Advocacy.

As a performer, she is principal flute of the Cape Town Festival Orchestra and Baroque traverso flautist with the Cape Town Baroque Orchestra, formerly serving as Solo Principal Flute of the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra.