janelle visagie, mezzo-soprano

Based in Cape Town

Mezzo-soprano Janelle Visagie grew up on a farm in Lutzville on the West Coast, and was exposed to live opera only seven years ago when her singing teacher suggested she join the ad-hoc chorus of a Cape Town Opera production to earn some extra pocket money. Prior to that, she had studied singing through UNISA and was a member of the Stellenbosch University Choir from 1998 untill 2002. She joined the Cape Town Opera’s Voice of the Nation ensemble in 2003, . During this time she appeared in numerous operas and toured abroad to Wales, Germany, Sweden and Norway. She recalls a favourite performance for Queen Elizabeth II and members of the royal family in Cardiff, Wales at the opening of the Wales Millennium Centre in 2004.
 
In 2007 & 2008 Janelle was a member of the Cape Town Opera Studio. During this time she sang roles in a variety of operas including Sophia in Orphans of Qumbu (Stephens),Maddalena in Rigoletto (Verdi), Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni (Mozart), Katchen in Werther (Massenet), and Fortuna in Incoronazione di Poppea (Monteverdi). In 2007 she also understudied the role of 2nd lady in William Kentridge’s production of Mozart’s Magic Flute. Janelle appeared again as Maddalena in a televised recording of Verdi’s Rigoletto on SABC 2 in November 2008. In 2009 she was appointed as Junior soloist for CTO. In May she will be sharing the role of Suzuki in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. In August she will be singing the role of  Magnolia in Gerschwin’s  Show Boat which is will be touring to Sweden.

Her oratorio  performances include Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Solemn Vespers, Bach’s Weinachts oratorio, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater and Mendelssohn’s Elijah.

In April 2009 she will also be singing Beethoven’s 9th  Symphony in the Cape Town Opera Gala Concert. Janelle also performs regularly at corporate events for companies such as Standard Bank and Investec.

She is currently studying with Prof. Virginia Davids at UCT.