<
https://theconversation.com/pretty-yende-a-south-african-opera-star-with-a-voice-that-shatters-glass-ceilings-200559>
"It’s been announced that South African opera star Pretty Yende will sing at
King Charles III’s coronation on 6 May in Westminster Abbey, London. The
37-year-old soprano was elated.
The invitation is reminiscent of when Charles and the late Diana, Princess of
Wales were married in 1981. For this occasion, the New Zealand soprano Kiri Te
Kanawa’s beautiful voice beguiled the royal couple. Te Kanawa, being Maori,
represented her indigenous community who were the victims of imperialism and
colonialism.
Te Kanawa was the same age as Yende is when she gave her royal performance and
Yende carries with her this colonial history too. Considering the previous
British coronation was that of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, with white males
dominating the music programme, it will now, to the best of my knowledge, be
the first time that a black person – let alone an African – performs at the
coronation of a British monarch.
However, along with the elation at Yende’s news, there have also been opinions
on social media that she should decline the invitation because of the legacy of
British colonialism in South Africa.
It might be a valid point, but it is precisely Yende’s participation that will
shatter the glass ceiling of yet another space from which Africans had been
excluded for centuries. More so because she is an African practising a
predominantly white western art."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
