Cape Town Opera's Foundation Studio Nominated For Prestigious International Opera Award

Cape Town Opera's Foundation Studio has been nominated for a prestigious International Opera Award in the category Equal Opportunities and Impact. The 2022 International Opera Awards will be held on the 28th November 2022 in the Teatro Real in Madrid.

Founded in 2012, the International Opera Awards is an annual celebration of excellence in opera around the world that aims to raise the profile of opera as an art form, to recognise and reward success in opera, and to generate funds to provide bursaries for aspiring talent in opera from around the world.

Cape Town Opera's Artistic Director Magdalene Minnaar said, "To receive this incredible accolade that acknowledges the work our teams do in the communities in and around Cape Town is such an honour- we are delighted!"

Cape Town Opera's Foundation Studio is the brainchild of Madré Loubser, the Head of the Youth Development and Educationdepartment at Cape Town Opera. She was recently awarded the Western Cape Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport's prize for the department's work for After School Programme, After School Arts and Culture Coaching Excellence.

The company itself was awarded the Neville Alexander Award for an Outstanding Contribution towards the Promotion of Multilingualism in the Language category. Cape Town Opera's Foundation Studio aims to give high school learners and young singers without a music literacy background the skills needed to enrol for a music course at university. In this way, the gap between themselves and subject music pupils is bridged, and the programme cultivates good singing habits from a young age and helps learners reach their potential.

Learners receive one voice, one music theory and one keyboard skills lesson per week, all materials needed (including stationery), a meal and transport.

Says Loubser, who will be flying to Madrid to represent Cape Town Opera at the event, "It's an incredible honour to be nominated for this award, and a huge thank you to the International Opera Awards for the recognition. The Cape Town Opera Foundation Studio is specifically designed to ensure that our youth becomes the next generation of world-class singers and we have a fantastic team working very hard and dedicating their time and expertise to our kids. It's so wonderful and inspiring for our kids to see to fellow South African singers, such as Pretty Yende, Golda Schultz and Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha, also being nominated."

The next Cape Town Opera production is Alcina, presented in association with the UCT Opera School and opening at the Artscape Theatre on 12 November 2022 for a limited season.

To post a comment, you must register and login.