Umculo's 2013 Fairy Queen

Umculo's 2013 Fairy Queen

www.capefestival.com

Umculo/ Cape Festival is an international organisation that supports lasting social change through opera in South Africa. Our dedicated team of top professionals donates its time and effort to a project to which all of us are passionately committed. We believe that the future of opera can be found in South Africa.

Singing is part of everyday life in South Africa - more than anywhere else in the world. Thousands of choirs in schools, churches, community halls and even prisons bear living witness to this tradition.

This is the starting-point for Umculo, a name which means both music and reconciliation. 

Our team organises workshops in Township schools.  Scenic interpretation is the decisive step towards more self-awareness and social consciousness; both sides learn equally from encounter and exchange.

The highlight each year is a full opera production with young South African singers and musicians and a choir from the Townships. 

We urgently need your support for this unique project.

Our project already receives generous support from the Hilti Foundation and the Goethe Institut.  But neither organisation is able to cover all of our costs, and we urgently need an extra EURO 25 000 in the next three weeks to enable our opera to reach the stage.

We believe that Umculo can achieve in opera a revolution comparable to that of Venezeula's El Sistema for the symphony orchestra.  With the right support, we can grow and expand.  Not only can we touch hundreds of thousands of young lives in South Africa; we can also help the rest of the world to learn from South Africa just how much social impact can be achieved when opera is conceived as participation and grown from communities.  

Who are we?

Umculo's 2013 Fairy Queen team includes:

- Founder and director Shirley Apthorp, Cape Town-born music journalist for the Financial Times;

- Baritone Njabulo Madlala, winner of the 2010 Kathleen Ferrier Award;

- Catherine Milliken, head of the Berlin Philharmonic's education programme from 2005 to 2012;

- German stage director Robert Lehmeier;

- Award-winning costume designer Thando Lobese;

- Violinist Stefano Pagliano, concertmaster of the orchestra of the orchestra of La Scala, Milan;

- Vienna-based conductor Warwick Stengards;

- Education team: Ntando Cele, Lea Heinrich, Marion Haak

- The choir of Bloekombos Secondary School, conducted by Siyabulela Sulelo;

- Singers Angela Kerrison, July Zuma, Mlamli Lalapantsi, Melissa Gerber, Sandile Mabaso, Ronald Paseka, and Brenda Thulo

- Production team Tatjana Dachsel, Laura Ellersdorfer, Michael Maxwell.

What We Need & What You Get

The EURO 25000 we need is essential for providing transport and school lunches for workshop participants. Our education workshops, which build tomorrow's opera audiences, give talented young singers a first-hand understanding of performance, and build social skills, are absolutely fundamental to Umculo's aims.  The funds will also cover transport and daily costs for our young orchestra members and chorus.

By supporting us, you become part of this exciting new venture.

Depending on the size of your donation, you can secure your own tickets to our performances, original photographs of the performance, an individually-designed photo book of the production, a Fairy Queen t-shirt, a poster, and/ or an exclusive invitation to attend our closing party.

If we do not meet our full goal, we will still provide as many workshops as possible.

The Impact

Over the three years since it was founded, Umculo has reached hundreds of young South Africans and gained international press attention and financial support.  We believe opera can change lives, and our young participants are the living testimony to this fact. Opera develops self-awareness and social consciousness, and provides a vital aesthetic experience.

Other Ways You Can Help

If you can't help with a donation, please help us by telling everyone you know about this campaign!