Joint musical project: ‘Two Faces of Opera’
In collaboration with the North-West University (NWU) in Potchefstroom, we are developing the project Mozart to Verdi: Two Faces of Opera, which will be performed several times in South Africa. The programme comprises the Finale II from Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, the first act of Verdi's La Traviata, and the overture to La Forza del Destino. Our university (NUM) is providing the orchestra, while around 30 NWU students will perform the vocal parts and choir.
Following independent preparation in both countries, joint final rehearsals will take place in Potchefstroom. These will be followed by two performances at the ‘Aardklop Festival’ in Potchefstroom and a further performance at the ‘Wordfees Festival’ in Stellenbosch, Cape Town.
Cultural programme
The artistic collaboration is complemented by cultural excursions, including visits to the Apartheid Museum, Robben Island, and the Pilanesberg National Park. These excursions enable an in-depth exploration of South Africa’s history, colonial legacy and social transformation, which is a particularly relevant topic for students at a German university when compared with our own history of reunification.
Benefits
The project has several benefits: it strengthens the existing institutional partnership between NUM and NWU, and it enhances students’ intercultural and artistic competence, promoting their international employability through performance experience in an intercultural context.
Concert tours to the Global South are rare in the German conservatoire sector. South Africa offers a unique context for intercultural learning beyond established European exchange programmes. This project is distinguished from short-term, one-off initiatives by its long-standing partnership with the NWU.
Project funding
Accommodation and local logistics are supported by the NWU and other sponsors. The project as a whole is co-funded by a DAAD grant as part of the Concert Tours programme, supported by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR).
We would also like to thank the Society of Patrons of the Nuremberg University of Music (Gesellschaft der Förderer der Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg e.V.), the NUM String Foundation, and Apoplex GmbH Projects for their financial support of this extraordinary concert tour.
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