Music

MBABANE - Local Bass-Baritone artist Thando Zwane has been selected to be part of the Mascarade Emerging Artist Programme for a second year.

The Mascarade Emerging Artist Programme is a flagship programme of the Fondazione Mascarade Opera, a non-profit foundation providing exceptional, fully funded training and professional opportunities for outstanding young singers and répétiteurs in Florence, Italy.

Zwane, an alumnus of the Tshwane University of Technology’s Department of Vocal Art and a former member of the Cape Town Opera Studio, has long been recognised for his powerful vocal talent and commanding stage presence. His continuation into the second year of the two-year, fully funded programme marks an affirmation of his potential for a major international career.

The Mascarade Emerging Artist Programme, an expansion of the former Mascarade Opera Studio, is known for its rigorous training framework that includes individually tailored vocal coaching, intensive language and skills training and a strong focus on performance psychology. The second year, which Zwane now enters, is specifically designed to transition artists into full-fledged professional careers, providing highly personalised training, role preparation and invaluable performance opportunities with partner houses and festivals across Europe, with Teatro La Fenice at its core.

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Thando Zwane, a graduate of Cape Town Opera’s Judith Neilson Young Artists Programme, won the Audience Prize and an engagement with the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden at the prestigious 42nd International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition in Latvia last year. (Pic: Courtesy)