Melanie Kovacs ’15: When first hearing her sing, it would cross the mind of few that the voice coming out of Joanie Hofmeyr ’14 could possibly belong to an eighteen-year-old girl. Rather, one would expect that hers was the voice of a professional opera singer. Incredible talent is one of the many reasons Hofmeyr has made such an impression over the past seven months on so many of her peers, teachers, and others both in her home country of South Africa and at the Episcopal Academy.
“I’ve been singing and dancing since I can remember,” Hofmeyr recalled.. She explained, “[A love of theater and acting] came from a natural inclination to want to participate in plays. [I] just had an interest there, but the talent definitely came first.”
Hofmeyr’s earliest memories of singing were participating in Christmas concerts that her brother would put on for their family. “He was so excited when he found out that I could hold a note,” she said. “My brother didn’t inspire me, but he encouraged me. I think if he wasn’t there, I wouldn’t have realized that ‘Hey, this is something special.’” Hofmeyr’s brother has been key in Hofmeyr’s pursuit of her talents throughout the years. Joanie’s brother also helped her realize her talent as an actress when they created short spoofs of Survivor as children. Not soon after, she found herself on the stage.
Hofmeyr’s school in South Africa, The Roedean School, has allowed her to express and grow in many ways related to her artistic and performance, and musical interests. She participated in many of the school’s extracurricular activities, such as the chamber choir, and the big music night of the year, which she described as a “student-run let’s-show-the-non-musically-inclined-how-well-the-music-students-can-put-together-a-music-concert kind of evening,” in which she performed with a group of singers and instrumentalists. She also participated in independent performances called Senior Music Evening, in which the evening is comprised of classical music performed by music students or non-music students who audition to perform.
Hofmeyr’s acting skills have also honed by her participation in Roedean’s theater programs “I always try to get involved in any theatre productions,” she stated. “For example, right before I came to the States, I was in the ‘House Plays’ which are sort of the equivalent of EA’s ‘Shorts’ because they’re directed and sometimes written by students alone. The year before I was in Roedean’s School play.” She also lent her talent to the musicals that are held every other year.
The junior’s experience in school dance, however, began when she came to EA. “I’ve never been to a school where there’s a dance team,” she noted. “I’ve always done dancing outside of school.” Hofmeyr has been using the opportunities available to her in Episcopal’s dance department to their full extent, as a member of both the select dance team and the varsity dance team that performed during the winter sports season. She has also utilized the drama department’s opportunities by participating in the fall play, and currently, in the developing spring musical, Thoroughly Modern Millie.
Hofmeyr’s most recent adventure was her trip to Zurich, Switzerland, where she traveled with the vocal ensemble, a group of select singers in the upper school. Her time in Switzerland was, as she put it, “one of the best weeks of my life.”
She recounted, “Switzerland may just have solidified my desire of wanting to pursue a career in classical singing, because in Switzerland, I realized that musicians have a ridiculously special bond. They all share the ability to make each other and themselves feel through music; they’re able to evoke crazy feelings in one another, whether it is happiness or sadness or longing.. I love the idea of spending the rest of my life around people with whom I share that unspoken bond: a bond that’s always there, but of which you’re only reminded once you’re singing and playing and listening to music together.”
When asked to summarize her overall experience at Episcopal so far, she explained, “[Episcopal] opened my eyes to the awesomeness of collaborative music. Because of the Dora Khayatt competition [which Hofmeyr won with an duet alongside Kayla Coleman ’14], I was able to perform the duet from Lamke, the opera, every night in Switzerland and I loved it because I got to do it with Kayla… Again it’s that thing of being able to enjoy music with someone.”
Hofmeyr is planning on pursuing a career in classical performances, but right now, she’s content to sing in her two-man band “Jucy,” with her “friend/instrumentalist/musical genius” from South Africa, Lucy Strauss.

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