(Nozuko
Teto)
Friends of Music, in association with
Christopher Duigan’s Music Revival, is proud to host Sunday at the Opera featuring the internationally acclaimed soprano
Nozuko Teto.
Teto will be joined on stage by leading
concert pianist and Steinway Artist Christopher Duigan and special guest
Federico Freschi (baritone). This unique concert, featuring three
internationally acclaimed local artists, takes place on August 18 at 15h00 at
the Durban Jewish Centre.
(Right: Christopher
Duigan)
Their programme on includes arias by
Mozart, Puccini, Bizet, traditional songs, inspirational melodies and numbers
from the classic musicals. Pianist Christopher Duigan is featured in two major
piano solos.
Join those on stage in experiencing an
afternoon of beautiful classical melodies, arias and duets by composers such as
Mozart, Puccini, Bizet and more.
South African soprano Teto was born in
Bizana, Eastern Cape. She studied at University of KwaZulu-Natal and the University
of Cape Town as a student of Kamal Khan and Virginia Davids. Thanks to a
scholarship from the Nicolai Ghiaurov Foundation, she was able to study with
the celebrated soprano Mirella Freni at her CUBEC Academy. During that year in
Italy, she sang in many concerts at the Teatro Comunale Pavarotti in Modena
with the Puccini Festival Orchestra, in Amsterdam with the Concertgebouw
Orchestra, with the Rotterdam Symphony. She made her debut as Mimi in La Bohème in South Africa while in
December 2012, she sang the role of the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro in Italy.
(Left: Federico
Freschi)
After completing postgraduate studies in
History of Art, baritone Federico Freschi studied towards a Performer’s Diploma
in Opera at the UCT College of Music. He subsequently sang with the CAPAB
Singers’ Studio, before returning to Johannesburg, where he performed several
roles, including Germont in La Traviata,
Marcello in La Bohème, Dr Malatesta
in Don Pasquale, Danilo in The Merry Widow, and Zurga in Les Pêcheurs de Perles. Following a
period as an associate professor in History of Art at the University of the
Witwatersrand in 2013, he was appointed a full professor in, and Executive Dean
of the Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture at the University of
Johannesburg. He maintains a regular concert schedule in collaboration with
Christopher Duigan.
Widely regarded as one of South Africa's
leading concert pianists, Duigan has been recognised as a “South African piano
icon” and “national musical treasure” (Classic Feel, June 2009). Duigan has
maintained an illustrious career based in South Africa over the last 25 years.
This includes performing as soloist with every major orchestra in South Africa
and appearing in numerous recital performances at major venues and festivals
including Brooklyn Theatre in Pretoria, Casa Labia in Cape Town, Steinway Hall in London, in Mexico City and
at the National Arts Festival (Makhanda/Grahamstown) and Hilton Arts Festival.
In 2010 he was invited to become a 'Steinway Artist', joining an exclusive
company of renowned international musicians. In December 2019, together with
Spanish saxophonist David Salleras, Duigan was soloist with the Orquestra des
Valles in the one of the world’s most prestigious concert venues, the Palau de
la Musica, Barcelona. Their performance was repeated at the Endler Hall, for
the Woordfees in Stellenbosch, March 2019. In July this year Duigan returned to
play in England at the Latimer Music Festival, a series of concerts programmed
around a small of collective of musicians.
Based in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, Duigan is
committed to promoting concert performance, both his own and those of others,
locally and further afield. As producer and impresario he is the director of
the widely acclaimed Music Revival which he established in 1997 and now
presents more than 100 concerts annually.
Sunday at the Opera takes place at 15h00 on
August 18 at the Durban Jewish Centre, 44 KE Masinga (Old Fort) Road, Durban. Tickets
R120 and booking is at Webtickets.co.za.
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