ILDA JACOBS, Washington DC | Monday
SOUTH African opera student Abel Moeng, from Thlabane village in North West Province, has been selected from candidates worldwide for the Arleen Auger Memorial Scholarship in New York City – and will attend a voice practical with the world famous Luciano Pavarotti in February.
“He has it, I just knew it,” said director of the Arleen Auger Memorial Fund, Celia Novo, who listened to Moeng’s audiotape during the screening process.
“It is not just the beauty of his voice, but he is innately musical,” she said of Moeng, who is in his sixth year at the renowned Juillard School of Music in the city. He was first discovered at the University of Cape Town.
Novo, who was the business manager for late American soprano Arlene Auger, said it was clear that singing was Moeng’s true calling.
“Singing is not a job, or a profession, it is a vocation. It requires an enormous amount of self-sacrifice. It is not just about the talent, it is about who wants it most,” she said.
“All Abel has ever wanted to do, is to sing,” she added.
She praised his intention to give back to his community.
“He is warm, genuine and real, and he wants to be successful not because of the fame, but in order to give back to South Africa,” said Novo. “He is an example to everybody all across the world, and told him I would do everything to help him, and open doors for him.”
Novo and her husband, Guy, established the Arleen Auger Memorial Fund in 1995 as a living tribute to their friend, who is popularly known for her performance at the wedding of Prince Andrew and Sarah Fergusen, the Duke and Duchess of York, in 1986.
Auger, though poor, was determined to establish herself as an opera singer. Her big break came after she won the Victor Fuchs Vocal competition, which included the airfare to Vienna.
With two coloratura arias and not knowing a word of German, Auger was discovered and immediately signed by the prestigious Vienna Staatsopera within two weeks.
Auger’s coloratura technique was documented on nearly 200 recordings. She retired in 1992 when the brain cancer that later claimed her life forced her to stop performing. – African Eye News Service