(2013 Standard Bank Young
Artist for Music Runette Botha Pic: Adam McConnachie)
The Standard Bank Young Artist Award winner for Music 2013
soprano Runette Botha is a sought-after concert singer and recitalist with an
extensive repertoire in oratorio and other sacred music, ranging from Bach
through Mozart to Rutter.
“I'm very grateful to Standard Bank for this award. I
believe that the exposure is invaluable. I hope that through this award I will
get the opportunity to do more work at home, and then in effect invest my talent
in South Africa again,” said Botha, who currently lives and works primarily in
Germany.
She made her professional debut at the Royal Albert Hall,
performing in a gala concert alongside José Carreras and Kiri te Kanawa. She
has performed the Stein arrangement of Mahler’s Fourth Symphony at King’s Place
with Trevor Pinnock and Mahler’s Second Symphony at Cadogen Hall.
Botha has been a member of the Staatstheater Kassel’s Opera
Studio since 2011/12 and has since sung Marzelline in Beethoven’s Fidelio, Costanza in La Griselda by Scarlatti and Marmeladeverkäuferin / Königstochter in
the German première of Mitterer’s exciting modern work, Das tapfere Schneiderlein. She made her German debut as Musetta in
Puccini’s La Bohème.
“I think that music chooses one, one does not choose music.
I believe that passion is one of the most important things in pursuing a career
in the arts,” said Botha. ”I don't believe an artist without passion will ever
have the ability to move their audience in quite the same way as someone who
sings with all the passion in their heart,” she added.
Botha initially obtained a B.Com Accounting degree at the
former Rand Afrikaans University (now the University of Johannesburg). “I've
always sung, and continued to do so whilst studying towards an accounting
degree. I'm very blessed to make music on a day to day basis, as many others
dream of doing exactly that, but never get the opportunity to do so,” she said.
While studying towards a MA (Opera) at the Royal Academy of
Music in London, she was seen as Lucy in Weill’s Dreigroschenoper, Fiordiligi in Mozart’s Così fan tutte, Li in Peter Maxwell Davies’ world premiere
production of Kommilitonen! and Miss
Wordsworth in Britten’s Albert Herring.
Other operatic performances include Donna Anna in Mozart’s Don Giovanni and also Drusilla in
Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea,
Yvette & Georgette in Puccini’s La
Rondine and Pousette in Massenet’s Manon,
whilst studying in Cape Town.
A winner of the prestigious Philip Schock Foundation
Competition, Botha has worked under the baton of several eminent conductors
including Patrik Ringborg, Yoel Gamzou, Dominic Wheeler, Jane Glover, Kåre
Hanken, Alexander Fokkens and Richard Cock. Directors with whom she’s worked include
Elmar Gehlen, John Ramster, David Pountney, John Copley and Angelo Gobbato.
Forthcoming engagements include the Shepherd boy in Tannhäuser and Pérron’s Lover in Evita at the Staatstheater Kassel.
“I hope to be part of the process to create platforms for
singers and other musicians in South Africa, to inspire more people to listen
to classical music and opera and not to dismiss it immediately as 'boring' or
'elitist', without really giving it a chance,” said Botha about the role she
would like to play in this generation to shape the country’s artistic
landscape. “There is so much potential in our beautiful country, we just need
to support our artists and give them the opportunities that they deserve,” she
added.
Botha said that she is a nature lover, and loves hiking.
“I'm also very interested in different cultures and how their traditions and
history influence their thought processes and behaviour, therefore I love
travelling and really getting to know how the people of the different countries
live,” she added.
The winners of The Standard Bank Young Artist Awards feature
on the main programme of the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown and receive
financial support for their Festival participation, as well as a cash prize. For
more information on the National Arts Festival, click on the banner advert at
the top of this page.
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