OUR STORY
Cape Town Opera is one of the largest full-time performing arts institutions in South Africa and the only permanently active opera company on the African continent. Founded in 1999, Cape Town Opera presents a varied annual programme of mainstage, site-specific and touring opera productions, alongside musical theatre, concerts and programmes for young audiences. Its acclaimed productions have toured Europe, South America, Asia and Australia, building a substantial global presence. Most recently, the Company returned from an exceptionally well-received European tour of Porgy and Bess. At home, recent musical co-productions with Pieter Toerien Productions, including The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady and Cats, have each attracted audiences of well over 100,000.
The Company’s international accolades include Chorus of the Year at the 2013 International Opera Awards, the Equal Opportunities and Impact Award at the 2022 International Opera Awards and the Artist of the Year Award at the 2024 Beijing Music Festival. In 2026, Cape Town Opera launched its most ambitious development yet: two inseparable legacies, a purpose-built home for opera and the theatrical arts, and within it the Cape Town Opera Academy for South Africa’s next generation of performers, technicians, designers and craftspeople. With a major founding commitment from the Judith Neilson Foundation, the Company has acquired historic Mill House in the heart of District 6, Cape Town, and will transform it into the Judith Neilson Theatre Development Centre. The Centre will include a theatre, a double-volume set construction and scenic workshop, costume, millinery and wig-making facilities, and spaces for rehearsal, music and learning. It will serve Cape Town Opera and the wider theatrical sector through partnerships and shared use.
The Academy has three pillars: Performing Arts, comprising the internationally award-winning Foundation Studio and Young Artist Programme; Production Arts, creating vocational pathways in costume, scenery and technical theatre; and Opera for All, encompassing the Company’s extensive community and access programmes. Cape Town Opera combines artistic excellence with a deep commitment to access, training and employment. It safeguards opera as part of South Africa’s cultural heritage while investing in the exceptional talent found across the country
Judith Neilson Young Artists Programme
This unique, three-year training programme provides unmatched skills development and hands-on training to young artists from across the country and around the world.
OUR VISION
To be South Africa’s best-positioned opera company, able to give full expression locally and internationally to the excellence of the country’s world-class singing talent in the operatic art form.
MISSION
- To produce a diverse programme of operas and other musical works, including core repertoire, new commissions and innovative projects, which serve South African performers and audiences;
- To nurture and provide the best training to develop South African voices to the highest level of excellence;
- To engage with local communities to create jobs and provide education about opera as an art form, thereby investing in the future of opera in South Africa;
- Build capacity for the future of opera as a performing art;
- To engage in the global business of opera as a respected and equal partner.