Botswana’s Opera Singer, Tshenolo Batshogile wows Italy
Botswana’s all-around Soprano and Opera singer, Tshenolo Batshogile is currently flying Botswana’s banner high in Europe with performances in several Italian cities.
The Ranotswa lady currently rated Botswana’s best Soprano, arrived in Italy on the 3rd of July to perform at the annual International Festival called The Spoleto festival dei due Mondi.
On the 7th of July Tshenolo performed at a concert in honour of the Italian-American Composer Carlo Menotti whose birthday falls on that day in a town called Spoleto at a place called Casa Menotti.
Here, she performed with Luca Ciammarughi a pianist from Milan who has written books about Menotti. Thereafter, Tshenolo performed at a De Beers dinner on the 8th of July.
She told this publication in a telephone interview that the performances consisted of a repertoire mostly by Carlo Menotti, especially his work Canti Della Lontananza, which is a collection of seven (7) poems.
She also performed other Composers Leonard Bernstein's work Le Bonne Cuisine which is a collection of four (4) recipes, George Gershwin and Benjamin Britten respectively.
On the 9th of July Tshenolo travelled to Tuscany in Greve Chianti to attend the Daniel Ferro Masterclasses (vocal training program) for two (2) weeks with concerts in between and a finale concert at the end.
Asked how she landed the lucrative invitation, Tshemolo revealed that the sponsorship came about after she performed the Botswana National Anthem at the De Beers gala dinner in Dubai in March.
And as for her impression of opera and the Arts in Italy, Tshenolo says that Italy is the home of Opera and they take the Arts seriously.
“There is a lot of talent which is supported and groomed by the government and the community at large”, Tshenolo, who holds a Higher Diploma in Music from the Conservatoire of Bourg-la Reine in Paris, said,
Her rich portfolio shows that the acclaimed Opera singer has performed in operas and concerts in France and other European capitals.
She sang in the BIFM-EU show with the Johannesburg Festival Orchestra ad Sibongile Khumalo. She also sang at the HAIFA festival in Harare and has performed in France, in school concerts, public master classes, and at the Foreign Affairs (Quai d’Orsay) during the visit of the then president, Festus Mogae. She has also performed at the Embassy of Botswana in Belgium during the independence celebrations as well as in Italy at a festival called CIMA for two consecutive years.
Locally, Tshenolo has performed in corporate events, weddings, birthday parties, and public concerts, taking lead roles in operas like the Pirates of Penzance, The Mikado, Okavango Macbeth, and the Setswana translated opera, Cavalleria Rusticana.
She also performed in a charity event at Tsholofelo Foundation and at an invitation by the then Vice President Masisi’s lunch, an event hosting cabinet ministers. Tshenolo did her Grade 8 in Rock and Pop through Trinity College of London.
She has been a Teacher at Kingdom Arts Academy teaching Voice and Music theory.