WATCH | Bach on the bus: Cape Town students in awe of violinist bus driver

18 April 2018 - 08:00 By Nora Shelly
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For one hour each morning, Tom Truter practices on his violin inside his bus.

Every weekday morning, Tom Truter arrives at work at the University of Cape Town just before 6am, picks up the Jammie Shuttle he will drive that day, then parks behind the Clarinus Village residential hall.

Truter then puts the hour before he hits the road to good use: he pulls out the violin stowed behind his seat, sets up a music stand in his empty bus and practises his music. A violin player since his teenage years, the 55-year-old still takes lessons and practises in his spare time.

“If I get the chance, I practise, because I’m a bit stressed with time,” Truter said in his bus.

Last Thursday, Truter began playing the violin in his bus outside Clarinus as UCT student Palesa Molopyane waited in the car park for a friend to pick her up. Molopyane said she “heard music out of nowhere”. Looking inside the shuttle, she found Truter playing.

She tweeted a five-second video, saying: “Caught this Jammie driver playing the violin this morning … I’m in awe!”

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