Speakers
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Jessica NupenArtistic director and choreographer
Jessica Nupen completed her formal training at the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance in London. Her interdisciplinary dance theatre and performance works have been presented at Kampnagel Centre for the International Contemporary Arts In Hamburg, Deutsches Theater Munich and the Royal Opera House Covent Garden. She has choreographed for international operas, musicals and dance works across Europe and South Africa. Jessica Nupen’s political engagement goes beyond her artistic practice: as well as lecturing at dance festivals, in podium discussions or diplomatic conferences, she also accompanied German President Steinmeier on his state visit to Southern Africa in November 2018 as an Arts Ambassador for Germany and South Africa and met with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
As Founder and Director of the Movement Metropolitan e.V. Jessica promotes platforms for international artistic collaboration in Germany, and through her involvement in t
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Oscar ButheleziAssistant choreographer and dancer
Oscar Buthelezi, born in South Africa, choreographed and performed the duet Road, which won a double award at the 2016 Kurt Jooss International Award for Choreography, becoming the first African to win this prestigious award. Buthelezi was commissioned to choreograph the musical The Color Purple in 2018 and received the 2019 Naledi Award for Original Choreography for his work on the musical. He then choreographed the local and international tour of the world-renowned Ladysmith Black Mambazo in late 2019. In June 2019, Buthelezi participated in the 33rd Hanover International Choreography Competition with his short piece “Road”. He won the Jury Prize for Best Choreographer, the Audience Prize and the Tanja Liedtke Foundation Scholarship, which enabled him to undertake an artistic residency at the Australian Dance Theatre in Adelaide. Oscar was assistant choreographer and dancer in Jessica Nupen’s THE NOSE.
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Pumza MxinwaSinger
Born in 1988, all the way from the dusty streets of Butterworth in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, Pumza Mxinwa started singing at a very young age and joined Sakhabengoma Choral Society in 2005. Her love for opera grew stronger when attending Msobomvu Senior Secondary School, where Sibusiso Njeza introduced her to the genre. She competed in National School Choir competitions as a soprano and obtained Position 2 at the Tirisano competition in Grahamstown in 2005.
Pumza joined the Cape Town Opera Company in 2011 as one of the ad hoc chorus members and performed in all local and international productions under the baton of Albert Horne including La traviata, La bohéme, Fidelio, Otello, Porgy and Bess, Lost in the Stars and Heart of Redness. In 2014 she became a permanent chorus member of The Cape Town Opera Vocal Ensemble and performed her debut of Evelyn in Mandela Trilogy at the Wales Millenium Centre and in 2016 at the Ravenna Festival. She also undestudied the role of Mother of Mandela in the same production, as well as Serena in Porgy In Bess when the company travelled to Argentina. She toured Dubai and Hong Kong with the production of Mandela Trilogy, in the role of Evelyn. From August 2018 to February 2019 she joined English National Opera and Dutch National Opera in their production of Porgy and Bess, as Lilly and ensemble member. Pumza also learned the role of Sister Rose, which she was meant to do with the Welsh National Opera in 2019. Since the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, Pumza has been a part of the Cape Town Opera Chorus, doing recordings, local performances and played the role of Yvette in Cape Town Opera’s 2021 production of La rondine. -
Siphesihle MdenaSinger
Siphesihle Mdena was born in Qonce (formerly King William’s Town) in the Eastern Cape. South Africa. He started singing at school, as a member and soloist of school choirs. Siphesihle obtained his Performers’ Diploma in Opera and Postgraduate Diploma in Music and Performance under the supervision of Prof. Virginia Davids, Prof. Angelo Gobbato and Prof. Kamal Khan at UCT Opera School. While still at school, he was awarded 1st prize in the opera category at the Tirisano National Schools Competition in Johannesburg for his rendition of an aria from Mozart’s opera Così fan tutte. In 2006 he was awarded a bursary from the National Arts Fund to continue his studies in music and singing, and joined the South African College of Music at the University of Cape Town, where he performed a number of operatic roles including Nemorino in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore, Ferrando in Mozart’s Così fan tutte and the Schoolmaster in Janacek’s The Cunning Little Vixen.
Siphesihle was part of the Cape Town Opera African Angels that toured the Netherlands in 2013. In 2014 and 2015 he toured Europe with the Third World Bunfight’s Macbeth, directed by Brett Bailey. In 2021 Siphesihle performed the role of Prunier in CTO’s La rondine. He is currently a member of the Cape Town Opera Chorus.
Panel Discussion – Transition, transnationalism, and the operatic present: THE NOSE in conversation
Panel Discussion – Transition, transnationalism, and the operatic present: THE NOSE in conversation
Time: 10 June 2022; 18:00 CET/12:00 EST
A panel discussion on operatic transnationalism and cultural collaboration involving creators of the South African Dance | Rap | Opera, The Nose (2021).
What does transnational collaboration with South Africa look like today? How can we approach the challenges posed by (post)colonial attitudes, the pandemic and changing working structures in the performing arts? How do questions of genre, heritage, and agency influence collaboration and artistic empowerment in current social and political contexts?
Together with collaborators from The Nose, South African choreographer and director Jessica Nupen discusses the challenges faced by transitional artistic work that tackles the complexity of culture, class, feminism, power and the corruption thereof.
Siphesihle Mdena was born in Qonce (formerly King William’s Town) in the Eastern Cape. South Africa. He started singing at school, as a member and soloist of school choirs. Siphesihle obtained his Performers’ Diploma in Opera and Postgraduate Diploma in Music and Performance under the supervision of Prof. Virginia Davids, Prof. Angelo Gobbato and Prof. Kamal Khan at UCT Opera School. While still at school, he was awarded 1st prize in the opera category at the Tirisano National Schools Competition in Johannesburg for his rendition of an aria from Mozart’s opera Così fan tutte. In 2006 he was awarded a bursary from the National Arts Fund to continue his studies in music and singing, and joined the South African College of Music at the University of Cape Town, where he performed a number of operatic roles including Nemorino in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore, Ferrando in Mozart’s Così fan tutte and the Schoolmaster in Janacek’s The Cunning Little Vixen
Siphesihle was part of the Cape Town Opera African Angels that toured the Netherlands in 2013. In 2014 and 2015 he toured Europe with the Third World Bunfight’s Macbeth, directed by Brett Bailey. In 2021 Siphesihle performed the role of Prunier in CTO’s La rondine. He is currently a member of the Cape Town Opera Chorus.
Born in 1988, all the way from the dusty streets of Butterworth in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, Pumza Mxinwa started singing at a very young age and joined Sakhabengoma Choral Society in 2005. Her love for opera grew stronger when attending Msobomvu Senior Secondary School, where Sibusiso Njeza introduced her to the genre. She competed in National School Choir competitions as a soprano and obtained Position 2 at the Tirisano competition in Grahamstown in 2005.
Pumza joined the Cape Town Opera Company in 2011 as one of the ad hoc chorus members and performed in all local and international productions under the baton of Albert Horne including La traviata, La bohéme, Fidelio, Otello, Porgy and Bess, Lost in the Stars and Heart of Redness. In 2014 she became a permanent chorus member of The Cape Town Opera Vocal Ensemble and performed her debut of Evelyn in Mandela Trilogy at the Wales Millenium Centre and in 2016 at the Ravenna Festival. She also undestudied the role of Mother of Mandela in the same production, as well as Serena in Porgy In Bess when the company travelled to Argentina. She toured Dubai and Hong Kong with the production of Mandela Trilogy, in the role of Evelyn. From August 2018 to February 2019 she joined English National Opera and Dutch National Opera in their production of Porgy and Bess, as Lilly and ensemble member. Pumza also learned the role of Sister Rose, which she was meant to do with the Welsh National Opera in 2019. Since the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, Pumza has been a part of the Cape Town Opera Chorus, doing recordings, local performances and played the role of Yvette in Cape Town Opera’s 2021 production of La rondine.
Oscar Buthelezi, born in South Africa, choreographed and performed the duet Road, which won a double award at the 2016 Kurt Jooss International Award for Choreography, becoming the first African to win this prestigious award. Buthelezi was commissioned to choreograph the musical The Color Purple in 2018 and received the 2019 Naledi Award for Original Choreography for his work on the musical. He then choreographed the local and international tour of the world-renowned Ladysmith Black Mambazo in late 2019. In June 2019, Buthelezi participated in the 33rd Hanover International Choreography Competition with his short piece “Road”. He won the Jury Prize for Best Choreographer, the Audience Prize and the Tanja Liedtke Foundation Scholarship, which enabled him to undertake an artistic residency at the Australian Dance Theatre in Adelaide. Oscar was assistant choreographer and dancer in Jessica Nupen’s THE NOSE.