TEDxGeorge Speaker
Germaine Leonard is a Cape Afro Jazz guitarist from Manenberg, Cape Town, who graduated with a BA in Jazz Pedagogical Studies from UCT in 2019. He plays the Ibanez Artcore Hollow Body, USA Fender Strat, and Cort Nylon String guitar, though his first love is the bass guitar.
After moving to George in 2007, where he excelled in music, Germaine became a music teacher and founded the Germaine Leonard Music (GLM) Academy in 2019. He also co-founded the Garden Route Musicians Network (GRMN), which hosts workshops for creatives.
As a solo artist, Germaine has performed with Sipho “Hotstix” Mabuse, Siphokazi Jonas, Errol Dyers, and Alou April. In 2019, he joined Wilton Oktober, Alfonso Julius, and Marco Plaatjies to form Fanatics SA, an Afro Pop band known for its punchy grooves. Recently, they opened for Shakatak at the Grand Arena, Cape Town, and have backed prominent South African acts like Theo Watt and Vuvu Kumalo.
