Mezzo-soprano Bongiwe Nakani is currently in her postgraduate degree University of Cape Town and regularly appears on stage in cooperative productions with the Cape Town Opera in roles such as Elisabetta in the recently acclaimed Maria Stuarda and Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia. In 2012, she had the incredible opportunity of singing at Nelson Mandela’s 94th birthday celebrations, appearing in front of international leaders of countries and governments at the UN National Assembly in New York. Later that year she was chosen to take part in the Glimmerglass festival where she appeared in Lost in the Stars, Armide and Aida. Among her competition awards, Ms. Nakani has won the University of Cape Town Schock Foundation Prize for best female singer and placed second at the Amazwi Omzantsi singing competition founded by South African baritone Njabulo Madlala. She was also a finalist at the ATKV singing competition. Internationally, she placed third in the prestigious Neue Stimmen competition in 2015 and recently returned from the Deborah Voight competition in the USA where she won both the encouragement and the audience prize.