In The Media
New Straits Times, Life Is, 23 August 2001
Voices that bind
By
Eena Houzyama
ONCE again, opera fans will be entertained by the wonderful voices of the Operafest Choir.
The choir, founded by Kam Sun-Yoke, gives children a platform to discover and explore their singing talents. It has had numerous performances both here and internationally. However, this time around the group performs with two foreign singers, Anna-Marie Kotze of South Africa and Laura Rizzo of Argentina.
Kotze has also brought with her two of her students, Albert Horne and Stefan Du Toit, both from South Africa. Kam, also the founder of Operafest Productions, met Kotze, musical director of Hermanus Pro Musica, by coincidence en route to Argentina.
"On the plane to Argentina, one of my students excitedly told most the passengers that he was a choir boy and was going to sing in Argentina," said Kam.
"My ears opened extra wide when I heard `choir'," said Kotze.
"He then introduced me to Kam and we just clicked," she added.
Meanwhile, Rizzo, a soprano, has performed over 15 occasions around Europe and has also recorded a CD, The New Winds of The Opera, with the Colon Opea Concerto.
Rizzo has also been crowned the Best Female Singer in 1999 by the Association of Musical Critics of Argentina.
These three sopranos - Kam, Kotze and Rizzo - will be accompanied by students of Kam and Kotze. Horne, 21, is studying for his performance diploma in accompanying and has been playing the piano since he was six. He started playing with Kotze's choir Hermanus Pro Musica since early 1999 on its tour of Britain.
"My trip here to Malaysia has been very exciting; it was quite a culture shock in the beginning," said Horne, who admits he loves jazz music more.
"I'm quite nervous about my performance but I'm very excited too," said child prodigy Stefan, 12, who recently won the Stellenbosch Eisteddfod Trophy at the Prizewinners Concert for best pianist in both the junior and senior sections.
The first performance, 3 Sopranos, is a spoof of the world famous Three Tenors performance.
The performances will be held tomorrow and on Sunday at 8.30pm at the PJ Civic Centre.
Another performance entitled Out Of Africa, which will feature Stefan, will be held at the same time and venue on Saturday.
For more information, call Kam at 03-6015781 or Jesse at 03-79569322.
* The writer can be contacted at lifeis@nstp.com.my |
