Siphiwe McKenzie
Soprano
Siphiwe McKenzie was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She received her bachelor degree in Music from the University of British Columbia and a masters in Music and Operatic Studies from the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. She began her European career at the invitation of the Nuremberg State Opera Theatre in Germany, where she went on to portray more than 21 roles over six consecutive seasons. During her time there she was nominated twice by the prestigious German magazine Opernwelt as “Young Singer of the Year”.
Since then, she has extended her repertoire and added 20 additional roles (totalling of 40 roles to date) performing internationally to great acclaim around the world at the following theatres, opera houses and festivals: the Volksoper of Vienna (Austria), Teatro Colón of Buenos Aires (Argentina), Teatro Reggio in Parma( Italy), National Opera of Finland, Staatstheater in Basel (Switzerland), San Diego Opera (USA), St.Gallen Opera Theatre (Switzerland), Hessische State Opera in Wiesbaden(Germany), Leipzig State Opera (Germany) ),Baden State Opera (Austria), Ronacher Theatre of Vienna (Austria), National Opera of Bucharest (Romania), Rheingau Opera Festival (Germany), Haydn Festival of Eisenstadt (Austria), Beijing Wagner Festival( China), Singapore Arts Festival, Hong Kong Art Festival (China), Opera Festival of St. Margerethen (Austria), Opera Festival of Belles-Îles en Mer (France), Chamber Music Festival of Vancouver (Canada), Mozart Chamber Music Festival of Mexico City (Mexico) and the Nuremberg International Music Festival (Germany).
Possessing a wide repertoire of chamber music and orchestral concert music, Siphiwe McKenzie has performed, recorded and been featured frequently with the National Radio Orchestra of Poland, the National Radio Orchestra of Budapest, the CBC Radio Orchestra of Canada and the Cologne WDR Orchestra of Germany. She has also recorded many live concert tours and concerts with the Vienna Volksoper Symphony Orchestra (Austria) in Japan and Korea.
Subsequently, she has also recorded a solo album with Italian guitarist Adriano Sebastiani.
Siphiwe McKenzie has participated as a guest soloist in various charity events such as the Telathon for Austrian national television for ‘Licht ins Dunkel’ with the famous Austrian television moderator Alfons Heider in Vienna. She was also a featured guest artist by the German television cooking star Professor Alfred Biolek where she appeared with Nana Mouskouri for the World Population Foundation in Cologne, Germany. She has also appeared as a guest artist for the Parkinsons Foundation in Vancouver, Canada, where she raised funds and capital for the disease. Siphiwe also enjoys humanitarian work and appeared as a guest soloist for the Portuguese division of the renowned Venezuelan organisation El Sistema called: Orchestra Geração, where she helped raise funds for the purchasing of instruments for developing young orchestral musicians from challenging social backgrounds.
A passionate teacher and educator, Siphiwe McKenzie is currently a voice teacher at the Faculty of Music at the Escola Superior de Música in Lisbon, Portugal. In addition, she runs her own private teaching studio, in which she formulates and inspires aspiring singers from all ages.