South African baritone William Berger was a member of the Drakensberg Boys’ Choir and the inaugural recipient of the Deon van der Walt UNISA/SAMRO bursary at age 17, before commencing his studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Since winning the Lucerne Festival Prize at the Ernst Haefliger Competition in Switzerland, William has distinguished himself as a performing artist on the international stage and made both his Royal Opera House London and Kennedy Center, Washington D.C. debuts in 2019. 

Opera appearances include Marcello in La Bohème for Opera Vlaanderen, Opéra Rouen Normandie and Cape Town Opera, Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte for the Liceu Barcelona, Oreste in Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride for the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos Lisbon, Escamillo in Carmen for Cape Town Opera and the Luzerner Theater, Papageno in Die Zauberflöte for Opéra de Toulon and the title role of Imeneo for the Göttingen International Handel Festival, for which he was nominated Opernwelt Opera Singer of the Year in 2017. 

In recital he has appeared at the Wigmore Hall in London on numerous occasions and more recently at the Konzerthaus Berlin, Beethoven-Halle Bonn, Gasteig Munich & Laeiszhalle Hamburg on a recital tour of Germany with pianist Julius Drake. His discography includes two solo albums “Insomnia: A Nocturnal Voyage in Song” (one of The Guardian’s Top Ten Classical CDs of the Year 2012) and “Hommage à Trois” featuring arias by Mozart, Haydn and Cimarosa with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra conducted by Nicholas McGegan.

William Berger was awarded the honour “Associate of the Royal Academy of Music” in 2009 and a Fleur du Cap Theatre Award in 2024 for his performance as Max Detweiler in The Sound of Music. He will be appearing as soloist with the CPO in the world premiere of Grant McLachlan’s new song cycle for baritone and orchestra, “The Silence of the Day” in September at Cape Town City Hall and as the title role in Cape Town Opera’s new production of The Barber of Seville, to be performed at the Spier Amphitheatre as part of the Toyota Stellenbosch Woordfees in early October.

Photo: Annène van Eeden

Prof Conroy Cupido is an internationally trained classical singer, researcher, and academic leader. He completed a music degree at Stellenbosch University, followed by a master’s degree and Artist Certificate from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. He became the first South African to obtain a Doctorate in Vocal Performance, conferred by the University of North Texas in 2009. In 2024, he earned a Master of Arts in Positive Psychology with distinction from North-West University (NWU).

He has performed extensively in South Africa, the USA, UK, and Italy, singing in operas, oratorios, and recitals. His students have excelled internationally, winning major competitions and performing at renowned opera houses including La Scala, Covent Garden, and Staatsoper Berlin. He was awarded the NWU Award for Teaching Excellence (2013) and two Institutional Research Excellence Awards for Creative Outputs (2017).

A Full Professor and Director of the School of Music at NWU, Prof Cupido teaches voice, vocal pedagogy, literature, and diction. He also conducts the NWU Opera Ensemble. He is a C2-rated researcher by the NRF and his scholarly work explores intersections between music, emotion, and well-being. He edited and authored Music, Art and Emotion (AOSIS, 2022).

Prof Cupido serves as President of the South African Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, Director of Cape Town Opera (chairing its Strategy Committee), and is an avid gardener and amateur artist. Together with colleagues, his productions at the Aardklop National Arts Festival were nominated three times for KykNet Fiësta awards, and in 2025, the production he conducted won the KykNet Fiësta Award for Best Achievement in Classical Music.

Internationally recognised, he has received numerous awards and scholarships, including the Sue Johnson Prize and bursaries from the Oppenheimer Memorial Trust and National Arts Council of South Africa.

Hendrik Hofmeyr, described by The Musical Times as ‘perhaps South Africa’s most prolific composer,’ was born in Cape Town in 1957. He achieved his first major success as a composer in 1988 with the performance of The Fall of the House of Usher, which won the South African Opera Competition and the Nederburg Opera Prize. In the same year, Hofmeyr, who was studying in Italy during ten years of self-imposed exile, obtained first prize in an international competition in Trent with music for a short film by Wim Wenders. In 1992 he was appointed lecturer at the University of Stellenbosch, and in 1997 won two further international competitions, the Queen Elisabeth of Belgium and the Dimitri Mitropoulos (Athens). Hofmeyr obtained his Doctorate in 1999 from the University of Cape Town, where he taught from 1998 until his retirement in 2022 as Professor and Head of Composition and Music Theory. His Incantesimo was chosen to represent South Africa at the Congress of the International Society of Contemporary Music in Croatia in 2005, and in 2008 he was honoured with a Kanna Award by the Klein Karoo National Arts Festival. He received the UCT Creative Arts Award for his Second Symphony – The Elements in 2018. Hofmeyr’s oeuvre, which comprises operas, orchestral, choral, vocal and instrumental works, includes some 150 commissions. Many of his works have been published abroad and issued on CD. In 2021, Partita africana, a CD of his works, was chosen as Discovery of the Month by the French magazine Classica; in 2023, another CD featuring three of his works was selected as Contemporary CD of the Week on Radio France. Hofmeyr was awarded the prestigious triennial Hubert Rupert Prize for Classical Music in 2025 by the South African Academy of Science and Art for his contribution to music.

South African pianist Jan Hugo began his musical studies in Pretoria and made his concerto debut at the age of 12. He later trained in Italy, graduating cum laude from the Modena Conservatory and continuing his studies at the Accademia Pianistica di Imola under Franco Scala and Boris Petrushansky. He holds Master’s degrees from the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Leipzig, the Conservatorio di Musica “Giuseppe Verdi” in Milan, and a specialised Master’s in fortepiano performance and research from Sorbonne University and the Paris Conservatoire.

A prize-winner in numerous competitions, Jan has received First Prizes at the UNISA National Piano Competition, the Royal Over-Seas League (London), and the SAMRO Bursary Competition, among others. He has performed extensively across Europe and South Africa, in venues such as Salle Gaveau (Paris), Queen Elizabeth Hall (London), Sala Mozart (Bologna), and at festivals including Liszt-en-Provence and MITO SettembreMusica (Milan/Turin). As soloist, he has appeared with the Johannesburg, KwaZulu-Natal, and Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestras.

Jan is also active as a vocal coach, chamber musician, fortepianist, and conductor. In 2024, he served as assistant conductor at the Académie du Palais Royal in Paris. Since November 2024, he has been Head Vocal Coach at Cape Town Opera, where he also worked as assistant conductor on the recent production of Aida. He regularly performs in a voice-piano duo with his wife, soprano Clara Hugo, with a special focus on art song.

Hailed by critics as a "national treasure", Zanne Stapelberg is one of South Africa’s most celebrated and versatile singers and performers. A graduate of the University of Stellenbosch, she completed her BA in Music and Higher Licentiate in Musical Performance  (English Literature, classical voice and jazz saxophone), Summa Cum Laude. She studied under the guidance of renowned voice teacher Professor Magdalena Oosthuizen and went on to further her training at the University of Cape Town and the prestigious Cape Town Opera Studio.

Zanne’s operatic repertoire includes many of the most iconic roles in the soprano canon. She has performed Angelica in Puccini’s Suor Angelica, Mimi in La Bohème, Alice in Verdi’s Falstaff, Ilia in Mozart’s Idomeneo, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Rosalinde in Strauss’s Die Fledermaus, Micaela in Gounod's Faust and Micaëla in Bizet’s Carmen, among others. Her performances are praised for their emotional depth, vocal purity, and dramatic nuance.

In concert, Zanne is an accomplished oratorio soloist, with performances including Verdi’s Requiem, Dvořák’s Requiem, Mozart’s Requiem, Vivaldi's Gloria and Handel’s Messiah. Her deep connection to Art Song was cultivated during her university years, and she has since performed extensively across South Africa and Europe. Her Art Song repertoire includes works such as Schumann’s Frauenliebe und Leben, Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder, Ravel’s Chansons Madécasses and Shéhérazade, Berlioz’s Les Nuits d’été, and Debussy’s Fêtes Galantes. She also champions South African composers, performing pieces like Arnold van Wyk’s Vier Weemoedige Liedjies and Hendrik Hofmeyr’s Die Stil Avontuur, Tre Liriche in Stile Antico, and The Death of Cleopatra.

Zanne has collaborated with celebrated visual artist and director William Kentridge in his stage productions of The Confessions of Zeno, Refuse the Hour, and The Magic Flute, in which she sang the role of the First Lady. Her theatrical instincts and musical curiosity have led her to explore multiple genres. As a producer, she created and performed Secret Songs, a classical reinvention of popular music, and Spieël/Speel, an Afrikaans cabaret written with pianist Kathleen Tagg that blends jazz, blues, African and classical styles. She also appeared alongside Karen Zoid and Zolani Mahola in the acclaimed production Zoid, Zanne, Zolani. Her most recent production, Once Upon a Tune,  with long time collaborators prof. Albie van Schalkwyk and director Steven Stead, played to sold out houses at the Suidoosterfees this year and they have subsequently been invited to do the production at The Playhouse Theatre in Durban, Die Woordfees in Stellenbosch and Aardklop Arts Festival. Zanne and Albie are currently performing their production, Opera-Tango & Beyond across the country. Gia Radnai of The Lowvelder writes about the production, "Opera-Tango cultivates a new love amongst theatre goers, it is a production which makes you sing and gives audiences a new appreciation for the arts". 

Her recording career includes the critically acclaimed Soul of Fire, a collaboration with Kathleen Tagg that was nominated for a South African Music Award (SAMA) and hailed as “one of the most remarkable musical productions yet to have emerged from South Africa.” Music from the album is featured in Deon Meyer’s film Die Laaste Tango. She also released Opera Gala – Live in Concert, recorded with the University of Stellenbosch Symphony Orchestra and funded by Standard Bank.

Amongst others, Zanne received the Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Classical Music, the KANNA Award for Best Classical Production at the KKNK, and a Woordfees Award for Zoid, Zanne, Zolani. She has also been recognized with the Best Young Opera Singer Award from the Friends of Cape Town Opera, and was named a Cosmopolitan Awesome Woman for her contributions to opera and music production. Insig magazine selected her as South Africa’s Top Theatre Attraction.

Beyond the stage, Zanne is deeply committed to music education and community engagement. She is an experienced voice teacher and choral conductor, regularly leads masterclasses and musical outreach programs throughout the Western Cape, and adjudicates for various eisteddfods. She also serves on the board of directors of the Heydeburgh Symphony Orchestra, continuing to inspire and shape the next generation of South African musicians.