SA’s first Operalia juror from Cape Town

Cape Town opera’s artistic director, Magdalene Minnaar, joins the prestigious Operalia judging panel as the only South African judge, making her the first ever South African juror.

Minnaar who is no stranger to the Cape Town theatre and the opera scene, and has graced many stellar productions, will join credible creatives from across the globe to judge the much anticipated Operalia 2023, at the Artscape at the end of October, and said she was thrilled to be part of such an incredible judging panel.

“In my capacity as the artistic director of Cape Town opera and a judge, it is just extraordinary to be in such excellent company. Incredible guru’s in the opera world fill this judging panel and I get to spend a full week with them, networking, sharing ideas and collaborating. It is a fusion of countries and expertise that I am so excited for. I am a little nervous, but my excitement supersedes the nerves,” she said.

Minnaar said Operalia is going to be a superb week of singing and having the best of the best from around the world will be exciting to experience.

“To have five South Africans performing as part of these extraordinary singers is something that makes me incredibly proud. We at Cape Town Opera are so passionate about the genre of opera, and it’s tremendous to be part of something so significant taking place in Cape Town, the mother city which adds yet another feather in the city’s cape and another opportunity to show off our gorgeous city is another great joy,” she said.

Luvo Maranti, one of the five contestants from South Africa said he was both overwhelmed and ecstatic to be part of such a prestigious competition as Operalia.

“Though this is a stressful period, I am equally as excited and happy to be amongst other very talented opera singers. This is also a momentous moment for South Africa and an opportunity to share with the world about the incredible opera talent we have in South Africa,” he said.

Alvaro M. Domingo, vice-president at Operalia said: “In making the decision where to host the 30th anniversary competition, we took into account that South Africa has an international reputation for the quality of its singers such as previous Operalia winners,” he said.

Louis Heyneman, the head of the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, said this is an opportunity to show the world what we have here to a distinguished audience.

“We also believe there will be visitors from abroad who will be attracted to the city because of the competition. The judges are from some of the most important opera houses internationally, and they, too, will have the opportunity to talk favourably about our city which has been chosen to present the most important competition of its kind in the world today,” he said.

The competition takes place at the Artscape Opera House.

Geordin Hill-Lewis, mayor of Cape Town, was quick to come on board, saying that Cape Town is the perfect destination thanks to its accent on culture and its gorgeous location.

“We look forward to welcoming the organisers, candidates and international visitors who have already made arrangements to come to Cape Town, and thank Rolex and Operalia for their understanding of the fact that we can stage this foremost opera event with panache and efficiency,” he said.

Each year Operalia is hosted in a different city and this year Cape Town joins the world’s cultural capitals such as London, Paris, Madrid, Hamburg, Tokyo and Milan as a host city.

Booking for the preliminary rounds and finals is through Artscape Dial A Seat 021 4217695, on the Computicket. There are two quarter finals on October 30 and 31 at 15:00 and 14:00 respectively and the semi-finals on November 1 at 16:00 are R400.

If still available, a combination ticket for all the preliminary rounds costs R500; tickets for the final round on November 5 are R1500.