Cape Town Opera announces 2024 season

Tamlynne Thompson and Staff Reporter|Published 1 year ago

Members of the Cape Town Opera children’s board of directors are, from left, Oliver Alie,10, from Pinelands, Ichumile Mayeki, 14, from Gugulethu, Karu Rademeyer, 12, from the city centre, and Kanya Mtala, form Philippi, 17.

Cape Town Opera (CTO), based at the Artscape theatre, celebrated its 25th anniversary and announced its 2024 season at an event held at D-Core Art Gallery in Woodstock on Thursday December 7.

Managing director Alex Gabriel and artistic director Magdalene Minnaar welcomed guests and shared the programme for 2024 for Cape Town Opera in both Cape Town and Gauteng.

Included in the calendar will be once-off performances such as Puccini in the Park at the Maynardville Open Air Festival, Starlight Classics at Vergelegen and Mozart’s Requiem at the Paarl Toringkerk at Easter, together with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra.

The Artscape Opera House line-up includes Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi, in commemoration of the centenary of Puccini’s death, and Shorts: A Festival of Pocket Operas at the Arena, with, among others, Poulenc’s La Voix Humaine (The Human Voice); Mozart’s lesser-known opera Der Schauspieldirektor (The Impresario) translated into English, and Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti.

Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor will be followed by a season at the Joburg Theatre in Braamfontein, and thereafter David Kramer’s Orpheus McAdoo, following the box office success of Orpheus in Africa at the Fugard Theatre in 2015, closes the season.

Minnaar also announced the formation of the Cape Town Opera Children’s Chorus that will be led by vocals teacher Antoinette Huyssen.

Children who form part of this 28-member choir are between 9 and 15 years old, with some of them performing in the The Sound of Music, a collaborative production between Cape Town Opera and Pieter Toerien Productions that opens at the Artscape on Thursday December 14.

Cape Town Opera will also expand its Opera for All programme in 2024 by making a number of main stage performance tickets available at little or no cost to the public. In addition, they will also present a series of performances in various Cape Town communities throughout the year.

Those present at the event were treated to performances by CTO artists.

Meanwhile, booking has opened at Quicket for Puccini in the Park at the Maynardville Open Air festival and at Webtickets for the Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi double bill at Artscape.

For more information, visit https://capetownopera.co.za/

Sisters Debbie and Bonnie Feldman from Green Point at Cape Town Opera’s event.

Children’s choir board member Karu Rademeyer with her dad, Pieter Rademeyer from the CBD.

Kristin Thor and Kyle Fuchs from Constantia

Artscape communications manager Simone Heradien from Woodstock and Philip Todres from Three Anchor Bay

Fern Buchalter from Constantia and Robyn Cohen from Oakridge

Olivia Alie with her son, Oliver, 10, from Pinelands. Oliver is on the board of directors for the children’s choir.

Grade 11 pupil from Phandulwazi High School in Philippi, Khanya Mtala, 17, one of several students currently training with CTO’s Foundation Studio programme, sang Deh, vieni alla finestra from Mozart's Don Giovanni.

Renowned musician David Kramer with Robyn Cohen from Oakridge.