Kristi Boonzaaier is a Cape Town based composer. He composes within a diverse variety of musical styles and contexts including film, video games, advertisements, and the concert stage. Kristi recently scored the artistic documentary “Sculpting this Earth” directed by Victor von Aswegen (“Displaced”) which played at major film festivals around South Africa and will hit the international festival circuit in 2023; and the documentary “Doctor Russel’s Imaginarium” which screened on Australia’s major TV network SBS. Kristi received the Best Soundtrack award at the London Indie Film festival in 2021 for his orchestral-Western fusion score to “The Gunslinger”.

A classically-trained composer and orchestrator, Kristi’s work has enjoyed many international performances by ensembles such as the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra, the Stellenbosch University Chamber Choir, the Horizons Choir Project, and the Odeieon String Quartet. His work “Sonopkoms in die Woestyn” was performed by Cape Philharmonic Orchestra in March of 2023 as part of the South African Composers Competition finals, and he was recently commissioned to create two full concerts worth of music for the Winelands Philharmonic Orchestra and the choir VIVOX Voices Chamber Choir, which will also be performed at the 2023 Woordfees as one of the prestige concerts of the festival. 

Kristi co-founded PolyForge Media, a full spectrum audio solutions company for film, TV, and video games, with award-winning composer Deon Van Heerden (“Broforce”). Their
collaborations include the Sci-Fi video game “From Space”, the video game “Warhammer: Shootas Blood and Teef”, and the upcoming animated feature film “Gracie and Pedro”.

Born in Johannesburg, Kristi grew up in Cape Town and completed his MMus degree in composition in 2018 with Professor Hans Roosenschoon and Dr. Antoni Schonken at Stellenbosch University. He also holds a BMus degree cum laude which he completed in 2015. His studies included working with numerous renowned artists including Prof. Corvin Matei, Martin Berger, André van der Merwe, Arjan Tien, Rik Ghesquière, Arisa Voges, and Deon van Heerden. He has also conducted choir groups and orchestral ensembles on several occasions, featured as an adjudicator at the South African Youth Music Competition and several local Eisteddfods, and is actively involved with music education internationally.