Peta Stewart
South Africa’s sweethearts – Siphamandla Yakupa (soprano) and Lukhanyo Moyake (tenor) are at it again… breaking hearts every time they sing, as they are so in-synch with each other’s voices and styles. They will be the centrepiece of the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra’s two Viennese New Year’s concerts, both on January 6.
Siphamandla comes to the concerts wearing a crown. On December 9 she received the Mbokodo Award for Women in the Arts in the Opera category, presented by Carol Bouwer Productions.
Married since 2011, Siphamandla and Lukyanyo were already a couple in high school in the Eastern Cape, where they were both singing.
Says Siphamandla: “I started singing in church as a young child, but it was only when I joined the school choir in 2002, just for the fun of it, that I began it take it seriously. We entered competitions because that was what choirs did. There was usually a category for soloists singing opera arias and again I thought that I should not try out and see if I could do it.”
Of course she could. Within a couple of years she was the 1st runner up in a provincial level, and so she entered again and again.
Marvellous moments
Going on to study at the University of KZN was a given, but the question was: what to study?
“I researched what would be required as an opera singer and suddenly the decision was made. Even though my mother didn’t understand how I would make a living, she supported my decision.”
By 2009 she had completed her degree and together with Lukhanyo they moved to Cape Town to study further Postgraduate in Opera studies at UCT.
“We have always been really lucky that we are both in the same field. So many of our friends struggle because they have to spend so much time apart as one travels to build a career or works such unusual hours. Working together is very special for us and there’s always something new I learn from Lukhanyo when we sing together.”
Working together has resulted in some marvellous moments.
In 2016 they reached the finals of the Hans Gabor Belvedere International Singing Competition. “This was my first international competition and to have my best friend right there backstage with me to hold my hand made it even more wonderful,” she says, smiling happily at the memory.
They have a son, Zukhanye, 13, and Siphamandla is really happy to say he is not interested in becoming an artist. “At the moment he seems more focussed on sports, but that might change. We will see!”
Major career highlights
“Every step of my career has been a highlight for me because it is all towards the bigger dream/goal which is to perform in all the big stages of the world. While I am absolutely an opera girl, I do sing oratorio but I love everything about opera from learning the music, getting to know and becoming the character, the costume, interacting with different types of personalities… all that is very fascinating.”
This is why she embraces the Viennese New Year’s concerts with all her heart.
“This is the second year we have been singing some of the most popular opera arias ever written like Meine lippen sie küssen so heis. And I love working with Richard Cock. He is great to work with. He makes the audience feel like they are part of the concert.”
In her career, Siphamandla has performed roles in many operas — Musetta in La Boheme, Susanna in Marriage of Figaro, for instance, and she has sung Clara in Porgy and Bess overseas. And some more international engagements coming up are under discussion right now …
Who: Siphamandla Yakupa and Lukhanyo Moyake (singers)
What: Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra’s Viennese New Year’s concerts with Richard Cock
Where: Cape Town International Convention Centre 11
When: 6 January at 3pm and 7pm, 2017
Info, book: Artscape Dial-A-Seat 021 421 7695 / http://bit.ly/VienneseNewYear
WS
