The world of opera is one that seems quite distant from the African context. However, in Cape Town, South Africa is a thriving opera scene. It was here that I came to know of one opera sensation who hails from Zimbabwe and whose brilliant talent is testament to the talent the nation boasts of.

Molly Dzangare was born and raised in Chitungwiza and is the daughter of Zimbabwean musician, Israel Dzangare; the founder of Chitungwiza Harmony Singers. Her father was passionate about choral music and used to play Opera DVDs around the house which he watched with his daughter. She joined the Chitungwiza Harmony singers and even joined them on their tours to South Africa. She won in the soprano singing category for Harare’s got talent and has been setting stages alight at festivals such as HIFA. Dzangare was ‘discovered’ in 2013 when a musician and opera teacher began to coach her after watching her perform at a concert. She then went on to perform in three operettas at Reps Theatre.

Currently she is based in Cape Town, South Africa where she is an opera student at the South Africa College of Music (part of University of Cape Town). While there she has performed in productions such as ‘Sara Baartman: The Opera’ in the title role and ‘The Tales of Hoffmann’; all have been produced by Opera UCT. She is also on demand to perform across the city and at the college.

She is the recipient of the Eva Kleinitz Opera Europa Scholarship, David Aldred Memorial Prize for Sopranos and in 2024 was nominated for a Fleur Du Cup Theatre Awards for ‘Best Performance in an Opera – Female’ for her role as Giulietta in the opera ‘The Tales of Hoffman’.

Dzangare is set to play Dalinda in UCT Opera’s upcoming production of ‘Dalinda’. The opera was lost for over two centuries and UCT Opera’s production will be the first staged production of the music. Set in medieval Syria It centres on Dalinda, a woman married to a Muslim leader, the daughter of an assassin-Lord and the estranged mother of a Christian crusader, who finds herself in a world filled with intrigue, love and danger. The opera is in Italian and was composed by Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti.