Lentswe, Klerksdorp - Two local opera singers competed in a prestigious competition in Pretoria over the weekend and they are through to the final. Tshepo Makabe, bass-baritone, and Lebogang Polori, mezzo soprano, competed in the Soli competition of the Tshwane Choral Music Association at Eersterus Hall on Saturday July 27. The competition saw 54 singers taking part and both were invited back to compete in the final in November. Tshepo and Lebogang go to the same church, Uniting Reformed Church (Modimo wa Boikanyo). Their love for choral and opera music started there, from intermediate to senior choir and they further sang for community choirs.
Lebogang furthered her studies by studying music at the NWU in Potchefstroom, obtaining a national diploma in music. She has competed in various competitions, such as Voices of SA international opera singing competition and others.
She has also travelled the world, to Ghana, London, and Eswatini and is currently a part-time voice teacher at the Musikon.
Tshepo took a different route in the civil engineering sector. He is a building inspector at the local municipality, but still active in the choral and opera music industry. He has been conducting school choirs such as Ithuseng Primary School, Prestige Secondary, Klerksdorp Secondary and Monkeng Secondary.
Both singers were the only competitors from the NW who competed in Pretoria over the weekend. They competed against singers from Eswatini, Botswana and Lesotho. They will compete in the final on November 30.
