Nonkululeko began singing in the church choir at a young age but it wasn’t until her high school years that she saw it as a serious activity. In Standard 6, she overheard other pupils playing the piano and recorder and decided to investigate – at which point she discovered that music could be taken as a school subject. She did just that from the following term until matric. After seeing the Cape Town Opera on television, she auditioned, and joined in 2010. Nonkululeko is pleased with the way in which artists are being increasingly appreciated in the city’s music scene and at the CTO, and she’s especially happy to be back in rehearsals with the chorus preparing for Claudio Monteverdi’s Vespro della Beata Vergine. Nonkululeko considers herself a businesswoman at heart, but aims to be a soloist one day – she even has some dream roles in mind.