PETA STEWART
Talking to Craig Lucas is most deceiving, for this winner of The Voice Season 2 describes himself as “shy, weird, awkward”, all of which are so well covered up by this spontaneous, delightful, self-effacing 25-year-old singer. Craig, with singers Heavenly Quartez and Paxton Fielies and jazz pianist Kyle Shepherd headline the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra’s Debut Gala Concert on February 25.
For Craig, singing is an outlet for all his emotions, and singing with the symphony is “pure beauty. Being backed by the CPO means that the sound will be simply beautiful. I cannot wait,” he says, “to sing my own songs, especially Smother with Paxton. “
Craig is not just a pretty face, and with the grounding of his widowed mother who sometimes works two jobs to give the best to him and his brother, Craig is well-suited to the fickleness of the world of entertainment.
‘I put everything I have into what I sing’
“My mom, who runs and Educare Centre in Elsie’s River, only supported my dream when I graduated from UCT last year with an Honours in Finance, after I had received an undergraduate degree in politics and economics. Two weeks later I entered The Voice, and couldn’t believe it when I made down from several thousand to the last eight … and then I won. I didn’t expect to. My aim was just to learn, to continually get better and better. ”
It was winning The Voice that gave Craig the self-confidence to perform.
“I made peace with my own voice when the judges, who are more coaches than judges, were so complimentary about. They said things like that I made every sing my own, that I believed in the words that I sang. They were right. I do put everything I have into what I sing. I have just been delighted to see how people resonate with what I offer.”
“I had always sung at home and written songs but had performance anxiety. My dream was to become a music producer and now I feel I am having it all. From singing my songs into my phone, I now have the full resources of studios and producers. I write songs, I co-write songs, I sing them and now I am even going to learn how to play the piano and guitar properly. Learning to play from You Tube clips can only get you so far!”
About ‘Smother’
He completed his first album in two months. About Smother, which he and Paxton have just released he says: “She wanted to cover my song, and she asked me if I could. No one asks. They just do it so I was very taken aback. I had been texting her since she entered Idols and we have since become good friends.” Smother, of course, is being orchestrated for the CPO gala.
Craig grew up listening to heavy metal backed by symphonic rock, and so enjoys the synthesis of sounds.
“I never ever saw the trajectory my life would take,” he says. “I never ever thought I would have the chance to sing with a symphony.”
He feels he has so much to learn and so much to give to South Africa. Although there is talk of an international tour, he wants to concentrate on his own country and sing all over.
“The South African market is enough for me at the moment,” he says.
He’s still passionate about his academic field and his feet are on the ground enough to know that he would be happy going back into finance. In the meantime, he has other plans and would like to start a record label where he will produce songs by young people with incredible talent who may not under normal circumstances have a chance to do this.
It’s the CPO’s mission to showcase local music stars from various disciplines, and in this first annual concert there will not only be the headliners but wheelchair dancers, young violinists, acts from the Zip Zap Circus and many more, most making their debuts with the symphony for the very first time.
Who: CPO Debut Gala
What: Community brilliance with the CPO, Brandon Phillips conductor; MC Nawaal Howa; Craig Lucas, Paxton Fielies, Kyle Shepherd, Heavenly Quartez, Young Men, Emilio February, Talitha Luiters, Luke de Kock, Wheelchair dancers Anda Mthulu and Chelsea Hendricks, Janelle Visagie and Jarrad Ricketts; Zip Zap Circus Cyr wheel and juggling, four CPYO violinists
Where: Artscape Opera House, Foreshore, Cape Town
When: 25 February, 2018 at 6pm
Info, book: www.cpo.org.za/ Artscape Dial-A-Seat 021 421 7695 / http://bit.ly/DebutgalaFeb25
WS
