Mzansi Opera Celebration

Cantiamo – Mzansi Opera Celebration welcomes live audiences back to Joburg Theatre’s Mandela in October featuring Kimmy Skota, Kelebogile Besong, Thesele Kemane & Phenye Modiane.

Production to be filmed live & streamed to arts lovers worldwide.

Johannesburg, 28 Sept 2020: Joburg Theatre is delighted to announce it will welcome back arts and entertainment lovers to the Mandela Theatre on Thursday 22 and Friday 23 October for a special evening of world-class opera with Cantiamo – Mzansi Opera Celebration. Directed by Marcus Tebogo Desando the production will feature the internationally-renowned voices of Kimmy Skota, Kelebogile Besong, Thesele Kemane and Phenye Modiane, with Paul Ferreira on piano.

With special Covid-19 protocols in place, Joburg Theatre patrons will be able to enjoy two live performances of Cantiamo – Mzansi Opera Celebration, while opera lovers worldwide can stream the production from the comfort of their homes on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 October. All performances are at 19:30.

Already established in the opera, oratorio and concert arenas worldwide, the four South African singers will be joined by the Vivacious Sounds Choir for a wide-ranging programme showcasing some of the most beloved and recognizable opera works in the canon. The Vivacious Sounds programme identifies students with exceptional musical talent throughout schools in Gauteng and trains pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds in all music disciplines. The choir consists of 20 singers from Katlehong, Johannesburg South and Soweto, ranging in age from 16 to 35.

The one-hour Cantiamo – Mzansi Opera Celebration will feature music from Bellini’s I Puritani, Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Verdi’s La Traviata, together with a selection of local compositions showcasing South Africa’s contribution to the global opera repertoire. These will include extracts from Phelelani Mnomiya’s Ziyankomo and the Forbidden Fruit and Mzilikazi Khumalo’s Princess Magogo.

“Sadly, the pandemic has curtailed the ability of artists everywhere to perform for live audiences, but it’s to Joburg Theatre’s credit that we will have an opportunity in October to celebrate one of South Africa’s most valuable national treasures, our operatic voices,” said artistic producer and director Marcus Desando.

“The idea of Cantiamo was born out of Joburg Theatre’s commitment to presenting a diversity of artforms and, as our opera talent is sought-after worldwide, I jumped at the opportunity to put together this celebration,” Desando continued. “In addition to a range of beloved opera excerpts, we are featuring some beautiful work by a number of local composers including Mzilikazi Khumalo and choral music legend Phelelani Mnomiya, who sadly passed away unexpectedly in August.”

Joburg City Theatres CEO Xoliswa Nduneni Ngema added, “Widely recognised as one of the biggest theatre venues in the country for staging both Broadway musicals and homegrown productions, we thought it would be timely this Spring to celebrate opera, one of the most popular musical genres in the world. Cantiamo will be the first show in the Mandela after lockdown, and what a way to celebrate! We are particularly looking forward to welcoming our loyal audiences back to the theatre to enjoy these internationally recognized voices of Mzansi and also to reaching a whole new national and international audience online.”

Booking is now open and you can enjoy these award-winning artists live on the Mandela stage in this special one-hour programme for R120, or stream the performance for just R70.

Booking Information: