HANLEE LOUW, coloratura Soprano

Based in Cape Town

SOUND CLIP:
Core 'Ngrato

Coloratura Sorpano Hanlee Louw studied singing with acclaimed teacher Nellie du Toit. In 1986 she won a study bursary from the "Friends of the Cape Town Opera" to commence her Performance diploma at the University of Cape Town under Prof. Angelo Gobbato. In 1989 she won the prestigious Wooltru Bursary and in 1990 performed as soloist with the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra at the Cape Town Opera house.

She made her debut in the role of Blondchen in Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail at the Roodepoort Theatre, to critical acclaim. Other roles include Adele in Johann Strauss' Die Fledermaus at the Cape Town Opera House, The Queen of the Night in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte at the Oude Libertas Amphitheatre in Stellenbosch and Cape Town Opera, as well as Mistress Ford in Nicolais’ the Merry Wives of Windsor and Adele in Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore at Oude Libertas. She has also performed, with great success, the role of The Queen of the Night at the Windhoek National Theatre in Namibia.

In 1997 she moved to Venice, Italy to further her opera career and specialise in “Bel canto” under the guidance of Prof. Alessandra Althoff Pugliese.  In 1998 she performed the role of Woglinda in Wagner’s Das Rheingold with the A.R.W.A. Thanks to a study bursary granted by the same association, she attended the Bayreuth Festival in Germany. While in Italy she performed the role of Ghiandaia in Janacek’s opera Volpe Astuta at Teatro La Fenice, Venice, as well as Musetta in Puccini’s opera La Bohème at the Summer Festival in Oderzo, Marianna in Tartuffe at the Kammer Oper (Vienna) and Rosina in Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia in Oberzo.

In 2004 she returned to South Africa to join Andrew Lloyd-Webber musical, The Phantom of the Opera, for The Really Useful Group (Australia) and Pieter Toerien Productions, to tour South Africa and Asia until 2007.

In 2007 she performed the Petite Messe Solenelle with the Cape Philharmonic Choir at the Cape Town City hall and has also performed Handel’s Messiah with The Cape Town Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Maestro Reinhard Schwartz.

Hanlee is in great demand as soloist and also performs as part of the vocal group Da Capo.