Zanne Stapelberg The "Awesome" Woman

Cape Town Opera's popular soprano Zanne Stapelberg has been chosen by Cosmopolitan as one of the "30 Awesome Women of 2006". Along with the other selected women "The Diva of District Six" (as Zanne jokingly calls herself), will be featured with an interview and photographs in the December issue of the magazine.

Since making her operatic debut three years ago for CTO as Marguerite in "Faust", the beautiful longhaired Zanne has been constantly in demand to grace performances of oratorios, concerts, operas (earlier this year she made her debut as Mimi in La Bohème at Artscape) and now is making a name for herself as a cabaret performer.

Earlier this year she launched her own company Long Tall Women Productions with an experimental season of her show "Zanne" at Die Boer, in Durbanville. Its sell-out encouraged her to take it to the Grahamstown Festival in July and she is now considering plans for the 2007 KKK festival in Oudtshoorn.
Zanne describes her opera cabaret as "a little play with classical music and linking dialogue" where she performs lovely Mozart and Puccini opera arias spiced up with some Spanish numbers where she gets the chance to "thrash a chair around, dance and go a bit wild!"

Join the Friends of Cape Town Opera to see "Zanne" on October 28 at the Cullinan Hotel where the good things include sherry on arrival, a four-course dinner with wine, and Stapelberg in action. To book for her show which is directed by Matthew Wild and accompanied on the piano by Stefan Lombard.

Zanne grew up in Durbanville and studied BA Music at the University of Stellenbosch where she also passed (cum laude) her Higher Licentiate in Musical Performance. In 2000 she became a member of Cape Town Opera Studio and with each performance has worked her way up the ladder.

"Every time I put on a ball gown and step out in front of an audience, I want to shout that I am actually doing a job! And wearing a beautiful dress. It's also wonderful to get to be so many different women. From the evil seductress in Handel's opera 'Alcina' to the demure Mimi in 'La Bohème'. There's just no way I can get bored in this business."

She feels really honoured that later this year she will have the opportunity to make her debut album with the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra in a CD produced by Louis Heyneman and conducted by George Michie.

"We are in the process of choosing the material which will include arias from roles I've done, so there will be Puccini and Mozart and Jannie Moolman has offered to do a track or two of duets with me.
"I must find a place for 'Barcelona'. It has been a cornerstone of my career through various productions of Sean Bovin's 'Queen at the Ballet'. The audience response was always so wonderful that I now feel I have a special relationship with that song."

Other engagements this year include performing opera arias and duets at the Hilton Festival in Maritzburg, and next month appearing as the only opera singer in a programme of popular singers at the Sun City Superbowl before 8000 people a night for six concerts. An important date for 2007 diary will be to sing the First Lady in William Kentridge's phantasmagorical production of "The Magic Flute" which will be performed in Johannesburg and Cape Town.

She is familiar with Kentridge's work through appearing as Clara in Kevin Volans' "Confessions of Zeno" with the Handspring Puppet Company's tour of Europe.

Supporting the awesome Zanne Stapelberg in her burgeoning career is her husband and soul mate Jomar de Lange. The couple live in Woodstock where Zanne is determined to keep her feet firmly on the ground. "I want to be as happy when I am doing the dishes as I am when I put on a ball gown to go out to perform". .

By www.capetownopera.co.za