Experience the magic of Golda Schultz and Jacques Imbrailo at the Duet Endowment Trust Gala

Two of South Africa's leading exports, soprano Golda Schultz and baritone Jacques Imbrailo, are set to dazzle music lovers when they perform at the Duet Endowment Trust Gala at Artscape on Saturday, October 4, 2025.

The gala, presented by Cape Town Opera (CTO) and the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, will also feature CTO soloists, Judith Nielson Young Artists, and the CTO's Vocal Ensemble and Children's Chorus.

About Golda Schultz

Schultz has performed in leading opera houses such as the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Vienna State Opera, the Royal Opera House in London, the Zurich Opera House, and at festivals such as the Salzburg and Lucerne festivals. She has also collaborated with orchestras such as the BBC Symphony Orchestra under conductor Stéphane Denève and the Orchestre de Paris under Stanislav Kochanovsky.

Schultz was born in Cape Town and grew up in Kraaifontein, with her father a mathematics lecturer at the UWC and her mother a community nurse working in the northern areas such as Bellville South and Bonteheuwel. While attending kindergarten for the children of lecturers at the university, she started taking violin lessons nearby at the age of five – never dreaming that she would one day end up treading the boards of leading opera houses as a top-flight soprano. After the family moved to Mahikeng, North West, she continued with violin lessons but also took up piano and recorder, learned music theory, and joined the primary school choir.

“My interest in opera came late. It was a natural extension from having been in primary and high school choirs.” It was after the family moved to Bloemfontein where she attended Eunice Girls High School that the theatre bug bit.

“They had a thriving theatre programme, and the school regularly put on musicals at the Sand du Plessis Theatre in the city. I had small roles or was in the chorus in musicals such as the Sound of Music, Evita, and Grease.”

But it was a final-year project as a journalism student at Rhodes University that led to a shift to opera. “I picked the story of an Eastern Cape legend that was turned into a chamber opera. It was about the hero's journey and finding your purpose. I used the story in the opera as a parallel to tell another student's story.”

What attracted her to opera was “the idea that this format can elucidate the human experience so beautifully and poignantly, and can speak to so many people on so many levels . . . You can just enjoy opera because you like music, but you can also listen closely to the stories and tease out wonderful meanings. That is something I've always tried to continue in my journey as a musician.”

After completing internships at SABC Radio and other private radio stations, Schultz enrolled at UCT to study opera under Associate Professor Virginia Davids. "My time with her was informative and transformative. When I went to the Juilliard School later, I had a solid technique and I knew what I wanted to do with my voice. She helped me to understand the possibilities of what a voice is capable of, how to do it in a healthy way, and how to do it in a way that is respectful to the music but still brings one's own enjoyment to it.”

In 2011, she joined the Opera Studio at the Bavaria State Opera in Munich. “I will always consider this city my musical home. It is where I found my voice as an artist, where I got to experiment and learn by watching. Also, being in the same space as great artists such as tenor Jonas Kaufman, soprano Anja Harteros, baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky, and soprano Renée Fleming, not only to learn from their artistry but also to be respected as a fellow artist by them, to be treated as a colleague. It's a lesson that I've taken with me throughout my career that no matter what stage of your career you're at – beginning, middle, or end – always treat your colleagues as colleagues no matter where they are in their journey as an artist. We are all walking the same path, we are all struggling to do the best we can. I am very grateful for the experience.”

Schultz, who is based in Berlin, last performed in Cape Town in 2014 in Marriage of Figaro for CTO. “It is comforting to return and sing in my home country. I'm always grateful for any opportunity to be and work in the country. I'm very excited to come and perform with my SA colleagues and hear the talent that's come up through the ranks. Also, my ties to Cape Town run deep because I have extended family living in suburbs such as Kuilsriver, Blue Downs, and Delft.”

As for what the audience can expect at the gala concert, she says, “really good musicianship and wonderful vocalism. I'm a small detail in a larger tapestry. Don't just come to look for one thread, or just to listen for one voice. Come to experience the entire tapestry.”

About Jacques Imbrailo

Baritone Imbrailo is the other SA-born singer who is also excited about performing in SA again after an absence of 10 years, when he did a recital in Cape Town with accompanist Albie van Schalkwyk. Imbrailo grew up on a livestock farm near Ventersburg in the Free State. He auditioned for the Drakensberg Boys Choir on a dare.

“The choir came to give a concert, and afterwards the director held open auditions. As our turn came, my friends all slithered away and I was the last one left. I got in and stayed for the full four years.”

At high school in Kroonstad, he joined the choir. While completing an undergraduate law degree at Potchefstroom University, he took singing lessons with baritone Prof Werner Nel on the side. He stayed and also completed a music degree. Imbrailo then continued his studies at the Royal College of Music in London, after which he went freelancing in 2008. Although his repertoire includes lyrical and dramatic roles, Imbrailo has gained a huge reputation for his interpretations of particularly Billy Budd, his break-out role in the opera of the same name by Benjamin Britten, as well as the title role of Pelléas in Pelléas et Melisande. Although he appreciates the versatility, it does come with challenges.

“I developed the versatility because of what ended up coming my way. There are great benefits because you get to hone your skills. However, from a vocal point of view, it can be tricky because one's voice develops in a certain way if you keep singing the same kind of roles too much.”

Imbrailo, who lives in the village of Middleton in Leicestershire with his wife, Cara, daughter Emilia, and son Johnny, says the last time he worked with Schultz was at the BBC Proms in the Royal Albert Hall in London last year.

“It was for Faure's Requiem. The baritone had fallen ill the day before the performance, and the organisers needed a fill-in urgently. I was rehearsing Billy Budd in Rome at the time. So I took a night-time flight, arrived in time for the final dress rehearsal, did the performance, and left the same night to return to Rome.”

Imbrailo is also excited about the concert in Cape Town. “I've heard that the Cape Town Opera chorus is fantastic, so I'm looking forward to working with them. The audience can look forward to ensembles, duets, and solos with music ranging from Mozart and Verdi to Britten and Tchaikovsky.”

Notwithstanding his success, he still has a few dreams. “I've sung most bucket-list roles, but I would still like to do Rodrigo from Don Carlos, a full staging of Hamlet, as well as Rigoletto, but not for another 10 years. There is a lot of French repertoire still to do, and I'd like to sing in the Vienna State Opera.”

Also, like Schultz, he would not mind coming back to South Africa more often to work with young singers to give back and share his experience through workshops and master classes.

Tickets for the Gala event are available on Webtickets.