With their chamber opera Selemo, the South African composers and performers Sbusiso Shozi and Nhlanhla Mahlangu from Johannesburg’s Centre for the Less Good Idea are taking a new approach to the idea of spring, exploring it through body, sound, and voice.
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Selemo
Together with soloists and orchestral musicians from the Komische Oper Berlin, they’re sparking a musical conversation about returning to a more deeply rooted understanding of nature, one that goes beyond the dictates of the colonial calendar.
African rites of passage meet baroque splendour when Vivaldi’s Four Seasons intertwine with the Umkhosi woMhlanga, the ritual reed dance of the Swazi.
The world premiere of Selemo , co-produced with the Neuköllner Oper, is about new beginnings, creative exchanges, and shared celebrations.
Additional information
Sbusiso Shozi, Nhlanhla MahlanguA springtime opera [2026]Sbusiso Shozi, Nhlanhla MahlanguCentre for the Less Good Idea
Koproduktion mit der Neuköllner Oper
Koproduktion mit der Neuköllner Oper
Participating artists
Alma Sadé (Sopran)
