Musical legacy lives on

The late Olive Theron's spirit was kept alive when Des Fernandes, through the Ultimate Wellness Trust, presented third-year performance piano student Reese Barkhuizen with an award in her honour.

The R20 000 Olive Liebers Theron Prize is awarded to a "meritorious pianist", as Fernandes put it, to ensure that financial barriers don't interfere with their progress to the stage.

Fernandes, a former UCT staffer who worked as a plastic surgeon at Groote Schuur Hospital, planned to set up a bursary with Theron, but this never materialised until she passed away last year.

He took up the initiative in her honour, and the accolade will be awarded annually.

Theron was a talented pianist who won a bursary to study in London but was unable to pursue her dream because World War 2 broke out.