Brittany Smith, who matriculated at Rhenish Girls’ High in 2012, will graduate with a B Mus degree in Opera Performance (with a distinction in Singing) from the South African College of Music (SACM) at UCT.
Smith was first introduced to opera in her 10th year of schooling at Rhenish through her teacher, opera singer Sonja van Amstel.
In 2013, in her first year at SACM, she was cast in the chorus of the UCT Opera School’s production of Don Giovanni by WA Mozart and Viva Verdi, and in the same year was awarded the Ruth Ormond Prize for the Most Promising First Year Female Opera Student.
In 2014, Smith performed in the chorus of Il viaggio a Reims by G Rossini, and in 2015 debuted her first singing role as Cherubino in UCT Opera School’s production of Le nozze di Figaro by WA Mozart.
In 2016, she played the part of Norina in the opera Don Pasquale by G Donizetti in the College of Music’s Opera Kaleidoscope, and has also prepared for the role of Pamina in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte which will be performed later in 2017.
Apart from Pamina, Smith will perform Pergolesi´s Serpina in UCT´s Opera Kaleidoscope in 2017. In 2016, she was awarded the Michael Ihlenfeldt Opera Scholarship and, in 2017, was awarded the UCT Opera Bursary.
Smith’s dream to sing with an orchestra as a soloist by the age of 21 was realised with her successful audition for the 2015 Artscape/CPO Youth Music Festival.
Her commitment to striving for excellence in all her performances continues.
Smith successfully auditioned for the Les Azuriales French Opera Program and leaves for Nice, France in September.
On Tuesday 28 March, she won first prize as well as the Audience Prize at the SHOCK competition.
