Peta Stewart
From singing with Rolando Villazon in Bavaria to celebrate Schloss Neuschwanstein’s status as a UNESCO World Heritage site, to singing in Cape Town with Jacques Imbrailo to celebrate the city’s fantastic opera company and orchestra, soprano Golda Schultz could not be happier.
Golda will be here on 4 October, 2025, to sing with Cape Town Opera and the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra in the 2025 Duet Endowment Trust’s Gala concert to raise awareness and much needed funds to keep these two Cape Town cultural icons alive and well. The Duet Endowment Trust is spearheaded by the indefatigable Wendy Ackerman and the concert will take place at Artscape at 18:00.
One of the most sought-after sopranos
Intrinsically South African and forever more, Golda is one of the most sought-after sopranos in the world, rushing from Boston to Cape Town and then on to Zurich for Der Fledermaus, with just a couple of weeks in between with her husband in her Berlin home. She is anticipating this Duet concert in particular because she will be singing with new colleagues, in front of family and friends, and reuniting with Jacques for whom she has the utmost respect.
“Last year I was singing the Faure Requiem in the BBC Proms when the baritone became indisposed and Jacques, who was in rehearsal in Rome, flew back, sang the Requiem beautifully and returned the next day.”
Although she originally studied journalism, music has always been a part of Golda’s life and was destined to be her future. She got off to a great start quite serendipitously when she was nominated for a Kanna Award at the Klein Karoo Kunstefees and sat at the same table with another nominee, Avigail Bushakevitz.
As people do, the lively talk turned to what’s next and Avigail said she was off to the Juilliard School of Music in New York. Was Juilliard a possibility for South Africans? Other South Africans like Pumeza Matshikiza and Sarah Jane Brandon were going to the Royal College, and her revered teacher Virginia Davids, at the SA College of Music, wanted Golda to go to Germany, something that made her apprehensive at the time for she did not speak German. Avigail then suggested she apply for Juilliard, which Golda did, not knowing that this was perhaps one of the hardest schools for which to be accepted. She was. “The bravado of youth and innocence can sometimes be the right thing,” she laughs.
Failure is part of the package
Fear is not something that comes naturally to her for she is inspired by people who go out of their comfort zone and excel.
“Even if they don’t excel, I am inspired. Failure is part of the package we musicians must bear.”
She has also been inspired by other great singers like Victoria de los Ángeles and Montserrat Caballé, as well as several of her contemporaries who happen to be friends. In fact, she is also inspired by other forms of art like movies. “I watched The Man who Knew Too Much, and I have even more respect for Alfred Hitchcock.”
Back to basics
It is really important for Golda to connect with her roots, and often.
“I come back every year and if I come twice I consider myself lucky, Three times I have knocked it out of the park. This year it’s only twice – I was here in August to do some Schubert lieder masterclasses with singers from UCT, Stellenbosch University and Cape Town Opera. I need to spend time with my family and with Virginia. That’s what nourishes me for the constant life I have on the road and makes it easier to bear.” (Her road is anything from the Metropolitan Opera to the Salzburg Festival to Covent Garden and the Vienna State Opera.)
Opera Studio of the Bavarian State Opera
“It prioritises my life, binds me and keeps me whole. But I also consider Germany home. In 2011, I won a place at the Opera Studio of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich and I have had the fortune to build a life and career there. My cup remains full and I am always grateful.”
Her cup is indeed full – recitals, concerts where she loves the challenge of meeting a new orchestra and seeing if there is chemistry with a conductor, and opera. “Duh, opera is why I got into the business!”
She has a few aims – to constantly improve as a singer and become a better human being as well; to find the perfect balance, and to begin to serve causes she cares about like the Human Rights Council of the United Nations.
She arrives in Cape Town after hosting an appearance at the Proms, guesting hosting another for BBC1, and a concert with the Boston Symphony and Andris Nelsons.
Who: Golda Schultz with the CPO and CTO and house soloists and choruses in the Duet Endowment Trust Gala
When: Saturday, October 4, 2025 18:00
Where: Artscape in Cape Town
Gloda Schultz tickets: Here, or Artscape Dial-A-Seat 021 421 7695
WS
