Selemo

Into the light, into beauty, into life! Spring symbolizes the power of transformation, rebirth, and the ancient promise of coming prosperity. What could this dream of abundance mean for us culturally, spiritually, and sonically, beyond national boundaries? With their chamber opera Selemo, the South African composers and performers Sbusiso Shozi and Nhlanhla Mahlangu from Johannesburg’s Centre for the Less Good Idea are taking a new approach to the idea of spring, exploring it through body, sound, and voice. Together with soloists and orchestral musicians from the Komische Oper Berlin, they’re sparking a musical conversation about returning to a more deeply rooted understanding of nature, one that goes beyond the dictates of the colonial calendar. African rites of passage meet baroque splendour when Vivaldi’s Four Seasons intertwine with the Umkhosi woMhlanga, the ritual reed dance of the Swazi. The world premiere of Selemo, co-produced with the Neuköllner Oper, is about new beginnings, creative exchanges, and shared celebrations.