(Sibongile Mngoma)
Hear the
brightest South African opera talent in Pietermaritzburg and Pinetown! South
African diva Sibongile Mngoma (soprano) and tenor Sandile Mabaso present an
opera recital at the Pinetown Methodist Church on March 18 and The Tatham Art
Gallery on March 19. They will be joined by The Vusisizwe Choral Society from
KwaNdengezi, Pinetown, and will be accompanied on the piano by Midlands pianist,
Lara Kirsten.
They
will perform arias, duets and choruses from the world’s most beautiful operas.
Mngoma will sing arias from Puccini’s La
Boheme and Tosca and Mabaso will
sing from Massenet’s Manon and
Donizzeti’s L’elisir d’Amour. The
Vusisizwe Choral Society will perform famous opera choruses from Don Pascuale and Cosi fan Tutti.
In 1993
Mngoma started her opera training at the South African College of Music, under
the tutelage and mentorship of Professor Angelo Gobbato and Sarita Stern, furthering
her musical studies at the prestigious Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Sienna
(Italy). She has been taught by some of the world’s premier opera divas.
In 2015
Mngoma sang the role Winnie Mandela in world premiere of Sibusiso Njeza's
production of Madiba An African Opera
at the State Theatre. In 2012 she took part in the critically acclaimed tour of
Porgy and Bess (singing the role of
Bess) in the UK. Apart from her many opera roles, she has sung in light
musicals and has been heard in extravaganzas like Skouspel, Afrikiti, Starlight Pops, Bravo China in collaboration
with the Chinese government, the Last Night
at the Proms, and Two Nations
Celebrate in London, singing for Nelson Mandela and the Queen of England.
She has
performed with all the major orchestras in South Africa including children’s
orchestras as well as appearing at the Royal Albert Hall, the Royal Concert
hall and the Coliseum in London, opera houses in Bari and Milan in Italy,
Switzerland, Belgium, Cannes, Munich, Rome and all the major opera houses and
venues in South Africa.
Respected
in the corporate circuit for the versatility of her sound, Mngoma also composes
and arranges music. She received two
SAMA award nominations for her debut album - A Glimmer of Hope, an FNB Vita award for best female lead in Opera,
Standard Young Artist award, and merit awards from the Accademia Chigiana, and
UCT. She is also the 2014 recipient of the Mbokodo award for Opera and recently
recorded a DVD of her production Opera
meets Jazz.
Sandile
Mabaso is a tenor from KZN. He began his musical training at the Drakensberg
Boys’ Choir School, under the direction of Christian Ashley-Botha. In 2005 he
obtained his Bachelor of Music from the University of Pretoria. He had his
first professional engagement in 2006 singing the role of Inkos’ Mathole in
Opera Africa’s touring production of Princess
Magogo (Khumalo). He toured South Africa and The Netherlands with this
production. From 2006-2007 he was a
member of the Cape Town Opera Vocal Ensemble where he toured to Germany, France
and Sweden in the productions of Showboat
(Kern) and Porgy and Bess (Gershwin).
In 2009
he began studying with Prof Werner Nel and was selected to participate in The
International Baroque Symposium, held at the North West University, under the
leadership of Kobie van Rensburg. In 2010 he sung the role of Acis in Acis and
Galatea (Handel) also under the direction of Kobie van Rensburg. In 2012 he has
sung the role of Puck in The Fairy Queen (Purcell) for Umculo Cape Festival.
In 2013
he was a finalist in the Mimi Coertse Singing Competition. In 2014 he made his
solo debut with the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra.
The
German art-song has been his main focus along with his operatic endeavours. In
2012 he was invited to perform Dichterliebe (Schumann) at UNISA's annual An die
Musik recital. He has also presented this work at the Wakkerstroom Arts
Festival, Tatham Art Gallery. In 2013 he presented Brahms’ LiebesliederWalzer,
opus 52 & 65 at the Odeion, Bloemfontein. In 2014, he sang On Wenlock Edge (Vaughan-Williams) in
Pretoria. In 2015 He sung Die schone
Mullerin in Stellenbosch. In 2015, he toured a programme of Baroque music
with harpsichordist, Andrew Cruickshank along South Africa’s garden route.
The
opera recitals take place at the Pinetown Methodist Church on March 18 at 19h00
and The Tatham Art Gallery on March 19 at 15h00. Tickets R110 (concessions
R90). Tickets are available at webtickets.co.za
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