Tsakane Valentine
Encyclopedia
Tsakane Valentine Maswanganyi (born 14 February 1979, Soweto
) is a South Africa
n classical soprano
who has an active international performance career. She first came to public notice as a member of the world-famous opera band Amici Forever
. She has since appeared in concerts and operas at major performance venues internationally.
At eight years old, Maswanganyi moved to Giyani
in northern South Africa to live with her parents. She remained there through her teenage years. While there she attended high school for a few years at Risinga, but the Bantu school system did not provide any lessons in music to their pupils. She was, however, an active member of her church choir which was directed by her mother and performed a cappella
music in the African choral tradition. As a result, Maswanganyi had very little exposure to classical music and was unable to read music when she entered University of Pretoria
with the aspirations of pursuing a degree in music. Her lack of experience prevented her from being accepted as a music major. However, a one-year "bridge" course for music at the university enabled her to supplement her lack of musical knowledge and eventually join the program.
in Pretoria. Following graduation, she continued her opera
tic training at the Pretoria Technikon for three years. She portrayed the title role in a student production of Emmerich Kálmán
's Gräfin Mariza during her first year in the program. Her performance led to an invitation to reprise the role for her professional opera debut with the Roodepoort City Opera. Other opportunities soon followed, including recitals given for Nelson Mandela
and Thabo Mbeki
and a performance for the United Nations
delegates at the Earth Summit 2002
in Johannesburg
.
After completing her studies at the Pretoria Technikon, Maswanganyi sang the role of Maria in a performance of West Side Story for Spier Opera Company in Cape Town
. Soon after she helped form Amici Forever with which she released two successful albums, The Opera Band
(2004) and Defined
(2005). The group also toured Australia and New Zealand in 2006 and the United Kingdom in both 2006 and 2007.
Maswanganyi is also active as a solo artist on both the concert and opera stages. She has given recitals for Presidents Thabo Mbeki
and Nelson Mandela
. Some of her operatic roles include Musetta (La bohème
), Valencienne (The Merry Widow
), Amelia (Amelia al Ballo), Arminda (La finta giardiniera
) and Contessa Ceprano (Rigoletto
). Some highlights of her career include the title role in Carmen Jones
with the London Philharmonic at Royal Festival Hall
and Bess in Porgy and Bess
at the Cape Town Opera
, Deutsche Oper Berlin
, and Norwegian National Opera. In April 2011 she portrayed the title role in the world premiere of Bongani Ndodana-Breen
's Winnie: The Opera at the State Theatre in Pretoria.
Maswanganyi currently resides in Italy where she is a voice student of mezzo-soprano Nadiya Petrenko.
Soweto
Soweto is a lower-class-populated urban area of the city of Johannesburg in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for South Western Townships...
) is a South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n classical soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
who has an active international performance career. She first came to public notice as a member of the world-famous opera band Amici Forever
Amici Forever
Amici Forever is a band of four classically trained singers who mix opera with pop music . The band's first album, The Opera Band , reached number one on the Australian classical charts, number two on the United States classical charts and the top 5 in the United Kingdom classical...
. She has since appeared in concerts and operas at major performance venues internationally.
Early life
Maswanganyi grew up in a township in Soweto where she lived with her grandparents for the first eight years of her life. Her grandmother worked as a schoolteacher and her grandfather was a priest. At that time South Africa was still segregated under the laws of apartheid. Maswanganyi stated of that experience, "I'd say my family had the middle-class black person's life in Soweto – which is different from the middle-class person's life in the white community. Soweto has a different spirit. There used to be shootings, but I didn't experience that directly. Sometimes the army would come by in cars and let off tear gas. We'd be playing in the garden and suddenly you'd have to get inside and lock the doors. Sometimes the police would come and start knocking and bashing doors in for no reason. In those days, people were not allowed to have visitors – even your cousins or family – you'd have to have some kind of permission to have people visit you."At eight years old, Maswanganyi moved to Giyani
Giyani
Giyani is a town in the Limpopo province in north eastern South Africa, and former capital of the Gazankulu bantustan. Giyani is located in the heart of Limpopo Bushveld, on the northern bank of the Klein Letaba River west of Kruger National Park...
in northern South Africa to live with her parents. She remained there through her teenage years. While there she attended high school for a few years at Risinga, but the Bantu school system did not provide any lessons in music to their pupils. She was, however, an active member of her church choir which was directed by her mother and performed a cappella
A cappella
A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
music in the African choral tradition. As a result, Maswanganyi had very little exposure to classical music and was unable to read music when she entered University of Pretoria
University of Pretoria
The University of Pretoria is a multi campus public research university located in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa...
with the aspirations of pursuing a degree in music. Her lack of experience prevented her from being accepted as a music major. However, a one-year "bridge" course for music at the university enabled her to supplement her lack of musical knowledge and eventually join the program.
Career
In her fourth and final year at the University of Pretoria, Maswanganyi began performing in the opera chorus at the State TheatreState Theatre, South Africa
The State Theatre in Pretoria, South Africa is the largest theatre complex in Africa....
in Pretoria. Following graduation, she continued her opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
tic training at the Pretoria Technikon for three years. She portrayed the title role in a student production of Emmerich Kálmán
Emmerich Kalman
Emmerich Kálmán was a Hungarian-born composer of operettas.- Biography :Kálmán was born Imre Koppstein in Siófok, on the southern shore of Lake Balaton, Hungary in a Jewish family.Kálmán initially intended to become a concert pianist, but because of early-onset arthritis, he focused on composition...
's Gräfin Mariza during her first year in the program. Her performance led to an invitation to reprise the role for her professional opera debut with the Roodepoort City Opera. Other opportunities soon followed, including recitals given for Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
and Thabo Mbeki
Thabo Mbeki
Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki is a South African politician who served two terms as the second post-apartheid President of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008. He is also the brother of Moeletsi Mbeki...
and a performance for the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
delegates at the Earth Summit 2002
Earth Summit 2002
The World Summit on Sustainable Development, WSSD or Earth Summit 2002 took place in Johannesburg, South Africa, from 26 August to 4 September 2002. It was convened to discuss sustainable development by the United Nations. WSSD gathered a number of leaders from business and non-governmental...
in Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
.
After completing her studies at the Pretoria Technikon, Maswanganyi sang the role of Maria in a performance of West Side Story for Spier Opera Company in Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
. Soon after she helped form Amici Forever with which she released two successful albums, The Opera Band
The Opera Band
-Making of the album:The members of Amici Forever met when rehearsing and performing at opera venues around the world. Tenor Geoff Sewell, originally from New Zealand, came up with the idea of an "opera band" mixing traditional opera with contemporary pop...
(2004) and Defined
Defined (album)
Defined is an album by popera group Amici Forever released in 2005.-Track listing:#"La Fiamma Sacra "#"Nella Fantasia"#"The Prayer"#"Aranjuez Ma Pensee"#"So Far Away"#"Nostalgia "#"Core'ngrato "...
(2005). The group also toured Australia and New Zealand in 2006 and the United Kingdom in both 2006 and 2007.
Maswanganyi is also active as a solo artist on both the concert and opera stages. She has given recitals for Presidents Thabo Mbeki
Thabo Mbeki
Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki is a South African politician who served two terms as the second post-apartheid President of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008. He is also the brother of Moeletsi Mbeki...
and Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
. Some of her operatic roles include Musetta (La bohème
La bohème
La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
), Valencienne (The Merry Widow
The Merry Widow
The Merry Widow is an operetta by the Austro–Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's attempt to keep her money in the principality by finding her the right husband – on an 1861 comedy play,...
), Amelia (Amelia al Ballo), Arminda (La finta giardiniera
La finta giardiniera
La finta giardiniera , K. 196, is an Italian opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart wrote it in Munich in January 1775 when he was 18 years old and it received its first performance on January 13 at the Salvatortheater in Munich...
) and Contessa Ceprano (Rigoletto
Rigoletto
Rigoletto is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the play Le roi s'amuse by Victor Hugo. It was first performed at La Fenice in Venice on March 11, 1851...
). Some highlights of her career include the title role in Carmen Jones
Carmen Jones
Carmen Jones is a 1943 Broadway musical starring Muriel Smith in the title role, later made into a 1954 musical film; the play also ran for a season in 1991 at London's Old Vic and most recently in London's Royal Festival Hall in the Southbank Centre in 2007. It is an updating of the Georges Bizet...
with the London Philharmonic at Royal Festival Hall
Royal Festival Hall
The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,900-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge. It is a Grade I listed building - the first post-war building to become so protected...
and Bess in Porgy and Bess
Porgy and Bess
Porgy and Bess is an opera, first performed in 1935, with music by George Gershwin, libretto by DuBose Heyward, and lyrics by Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward. It was based on DuBose Heyward's novel Porgy and subsequent play of the same title, which he co-wrote with his wife Dorothy Heyward...
at the Cape Town Opera
Cape Town Opera
Cape Town Opera is a professional opera company located in Cape Town, South Africa. CTO was founded in 1999 by the management and staff of the former South Africa Arts Council Opera...
, Deutsche Oper Berlin
Deutsche Oper Berlin
The Deutsche Oper Berlin is an opera company located in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin, Germany. The resident building is also home to the Berlin State Ballet.-History:...
, and Norwegian National Opera. In April 2011 she portrayed the title role in the world premiere of Bongani Ndodana-Breen
Bongani Ndodana-Breen
Bongani Ndodana-Breen is a South African-born composer, musician and cultural activist. He was born in 1975 in Queenstown, South Africa and is a member of the Xhosa clan. He is often referred to by his Xhosa paternal ancestral name or isiduko, Rhadebe. He was educated at St...
's Winnie: The Opera at the State Theatre in Pretoria.
Maswanganyi currently resides in Italy where she is a voice student of mezzo-soprano Nadiya Petrenko.
Discography
- The Opera BandThe Opera Band-Making of the album:The members of Amici Forever met when rehearsing and performing at opera venues around the world. Tenor Geoff Sewell, originally from New Zealand, came up with the idea of an "opera band" mixing traditional opera with contemporary pop...
(2004, Amici Forever) - DefinedDefined (album)Defined is an album by popera group Amici Forever released in 2005.-Track listing:#"La Fiamma Sacra "#"Nella Fantasia"#"The Prayer"#"Aranjuez Ma Pensee"#"So Far Away"#"Nostalgia "#"Core'ngrato "...
(2005, Amici Forever)