For women, by women
In celebration of International Women’s Day, the Franco-Namibian Cultural Centre and the National Theatre play host to a night of opera with Ndjiki Ono.The duo consists of French pianist of Japanese origin Kaoli Ono and opera singer Cyrielle Ndjiki Nya, originally from Cameroon and the Ivory Coast.
Both recent graduates of the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, they assert their eclectic and distinctive tastes, navigating with ease from the French repertoire to English, with a diversion through German and even Russian, featuring the music of Debussy, Duparc, Chausson, Wagner, Schubert, Rachmaninov, Britten, but also contemporary composers such as Heggie or Kaoli herself, who is also a talented composer.
In September 2020 the two recorded their first album, Muses éternelles, together.
Cyrielle first encountered classical music at ten, when she began to study the piano. She had always loved singing, but as she wanted to learn to control her voice, she decided to take classes at 17. She developed her love for singing and acting in Claudine le Coz' and Pierre Catala's classes before entering the Paris Conservatoire in 2015. In 2017, she joined the fourth generation of singers in the Opera Fuoco troupe, directed by David Stern, and took part in many master classes during which she met prestigious artists Karine Deshayes, Dame Felicity Lott, Jeff Cohen and others.
Various highlights followed ahead of her taking part in the reprisal of the worldwide creation of Hector Parrà's opera, Justice, in May this year in St Pölten, Austria.
Kaoli performs regularly in both France and Japan, as a soloist, an accompanist and in vocal or instrumental chamber groups. She has performed recitals at major venues in Europe and Japan including Théâtre de l’Ouest Parisien, La Seine Musicale, Wigmore Hall, St John’s Smith Square, Saint Martin in the Fields in London and Suntory Hall in Tokyo.
Kaoli also loves contemporary music and throughout her years as a musician, has won various prizes.
After obtaining a diploma of harmony at the Paris Conservatoire, she turned her hand to composition. She is particularly interested by the voice and is the author of works for solo voice to choir.
The concert takes place on Friday 8 March at 19:00. Tickets are available via webtickets.com.na at N$250 each.