2012 Season Opens with Bravo Opera Africa!

Opera Africa’s first production of 2012 will be a sparkling celebratory affair. Africa’s most dynamic opera company is rolling out the red carpet to present a glittering tribute to everyone who made a contribution to the growth and wealth of this independent living artistic organisation over the past 18 years. This production is an operatic diptych like you’ve never experienced before. The first half, “Bravo Opera Africa – A Vocal Triumph,” will be a showcase of extracts from the company’s most memorable productions, including Princess Magogo, Aïda, Carmen, Faust, The Magic Flute and La Traviata. The stage director for this gala event will be Cape Town’s Angelo Gobbato whose Opera Africa debut, The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart, is still a talking point nearly six months after it was presented. Opera Africa invited the crème de la crème of our singers to participate in this historic event, which will also include choruses and ensemble pieces.

For the second half of this event, Opera Africa has commissioned a brand new indigenous work,  the one-act opera Ziyankomo, composed by Phelelani Mnomiya who hails from Durban. It tells the story of an old Zulu legend which resonates on a universal level and will thus be meaningful for contemporary audiences. It’s libretto has been prepared and written by the dynamic prof. Themba Msimang. The hand picked cast represents some of the greatest voices which have made their mark over the past decade, including Opera Africa’s star soprano Kelebogile Boikanyo. Themi Venturas, who has often given the company some of his best work in the past, adapted Ziyankomo for the operatic stage and will also direct the production. In both halves of the evening the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra will be conducted by the young American maestro Timothy Myers.

This operatic showcase of our foremost operatic talent can be experienced from 10 March to 31 March 2012 in both Pretoria and Johannesburg. The Pretoria run is staged in the Opera, SA State Theatre, from 10 to 17 March, and in Johannesburg it’s presented in the Nelson Mandela auditorium of the Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein between 23 March and 31 March.

OA studio member wins Standard Bank Young Artist Award

Kelebogile (Pearl) Boikanyo’s (24) rise in the South African opera world has been nothing short of remarkable. This year, she hits another high note with winning the Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Music 2012.

“This award means a lot to me, obviously because I am young and I am excited to be recognised in my own country. I love what I do and, it also keeps me on the right track,” said Boikanyo. “I am confident that with enough hard work, I will have a bright future. When I am on stage, it is because I love what I do and I do it with passion. I do not expecting any recognition, but this award tell me that people realise and appreciate good arts,” she added.(read more..)

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