Smart,
Savvy &
Sexy –
The New
Face of
Opera
in South
Africa
Thembisile Twala and Kelebogile Boikanyo in Ziyankomo and the Forbidden
Fruit by Phelelani Mnomiya, SA State Theatre 2012
international success of Opera Africa’s
commissioned
operas,
“Princess
Magogo” by Mzilikazi Khumalo, and
“Ziyankomo and the Forbidden Fruit” by
Phelelani Mnomiya.
A third opera is under commission, “The
Struggle is my Life” (based on the life of
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela) funded by the
National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund
(NLDTF).
Composer and musician, Soweto-born
Neo Muyanga, a member of the creative
team, is equally a jazz and classical muso
who draws inspiration from traditional
Sesotho and Zulu music which he fuses
with the melismatic style of Ethiopia, jazz
and western classical music. He has cofounded an acoustic pop duo, written
an operetta, and presented an intimate
music play, “Memory of how it feels” at
the Baxter Theatre at the University of
Cape Town.
Opera in Africa? What could
be further away from an almost
endless list of priorities that our
country has to grapple with?
Not so, says Sandra de Villiers, CEO of
Opera Africa, who seized the initiative
19 years ago to establish a platform that
develops and showcases the depth of
young South African talent on both local
and international stages.
With its vision of pioneering a South
African approach to the opera genre,
Opera Africa is using the power of opera
to keep the country’s musical heritage
alive through its commissioned works that
are rooted in the narratives of this country.
“Our collective history is one of tragedy
and turbulence, heroism and villainy, the
very substance of opera;” says artistic
director, Hein de Villiers.
This is borne out by the local and
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Sibongile Khumalo in the title role of Princess Magogo kaDinuzulu
by Mzilikazi Khumalo, Oslo 2007
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