CT Opera Company bags international award
Rising stars of the Cape Town Opera Company’s youth development programme having bagged an award at the International Opera Awards.
The opera’s Foundation Studio programme won an award last week, in the ‘equal opportunities and impact’ category in Madrid. This is the opera’s youth development education programme.
Foundation Studio is a music literacy programme that equips high school students with no music background with the skills needed to pursue music at university.
Lilitha Nekhwevha and Yongama Takane are students in the programme who have an innate affinity for opera.
Nekhwevha, 18, from Gugulethu joined the programme at the beginning of the year.
“Being part of this programme has been the best journey of my life thus far. I never thought I would end up here,” he said.
Nekhwevha said he grew up exposed to people playing all sorts of musical instruments.
“The older I got, the more I realised that I have no interest in playing an instrument. I tried singing when I was 14 years old, and my love for choral music started there,” he said.
“Since I joined the opera, I have never wanted to go home. I want to stay and learn more.
The teen, who is a bass-baritone, said nothing compared to the thrill of singing opera.
"I am not a talkative person, but when I am on stage, I feel like I can say anything I want with music,” he said.
“A lot goes into (singing opera). You have to pay attention to how you open your mouth, project your voice, how to breathe and focus on your posture.
Yongama, 13, is from Khayelitsha and sang at her local church choir before joining the opera.
“Joining this was a pleasant surprise because it was something different. Nobody in my family sings opera, but I was in the choir since I was seven years old.
“I particularly enjoy the voice lessons we have because I love to sing,” she added.
Yongama who is a soprano said she loved how music moved her.
“It makes me happy when I get to perform for crowds and see how people react. When we performed as a crowd, I couldn’t believe that was what we sounded like,” she said.
“I was wowed by the way we sounded as a group. Each day I learn something new. I go home each day having learned something different.”
The duo said they were ecstatic when they heard their programme had won the award.
“My mother, Nhlanhla Nekhwevha, told me that we won the award and I did not believe her but I was so excited,” Nekhwevha said.
Yongama added: “I was overjoyed. Everyone told us we must keep on doing what we do.”
Both rising stars said in future they would love to travel and perform on the best world stages.
“I would like to travel and perform in a group and sing to people around the world,” Yongama said.
“I would like to travel as a soloist. I think I have a heart for adjudicating and I would like to keep learning,” Nekhwevha added.
Head of the opera’s youth development and education , Madré Loubser said they were honoured by the recognition of their hard work.
Loubser founded the programme with colleagues last year as a pilot study and just a year into its full operation - they bagged the award.
“Receiving this award means that we are receiving international recognition. It shows that even though we are in Africa, what we do is important and necessary,” she said.
“We have to create opportunities for the youth of our country, to give them skills they can use and take into their professional careers, and become extraordinary world-class singers.
The Foundation Studio programme teaches music theory lessons, voice lessons, keyboard training and aural training lessons weekly. As part of the programme, students are provided with transport, meals and all the learning material they need.
The first year of the programme had seven students and next year it will have an intake of another seven students to join the existing pool.
“We want nothing to stand in the way of their learning, which is why we started with such a small group,” Loubser said.
“The programme is called Foundation Studio because we want to give them the foundation they need to take their education further at a tertiary level.”