Four voices from
the township, singing
opera as their own.
Self-taught, classically untrained and unmistakably gifted, The Gugulethu Tenors turned a school talent contest into a career that has carried Nessun Dorma and Pata Pata onto the same stage, for royalty, presidents and packed concert halls alike.
The Gugulethu Tenors
Mpendulo Yawa, Khaya Silevu, Xolani November and Loyiso Dlova were four hopefuls at Fezeka High School in Gugulethu when they entered a singing competition called the Prompt Voice Search — and won. What followed has been more than two decades of building an audience for opera in a genre that had never belonged to the township before them.
Described as "South Africa's Il Divo", "Pavarotti's Children" and "the Diamond of the Township", the quartet has released a self-titled debut album, represented South Africa during the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and performed for audiences that have included Oprah Winfrey, Chris Rock and Mariah Carey.
Read their storyHallelujah, live under the stars
The four voices
Mpendulo Yawa
One of the four self-taught vocalists who founded the group at Fezeka High School.
Khaya Silevu
Brings his voice to the quartet's blend of opera, Xhosa song and popular standards.
Xolani November
A founding tenor, part of the sound that has carried the group for over a decade.
Loyiso Dlova
Completes the quartet's four-part harmony on stages across South Africa.
Bring The Gugulethu Tenors to your stage.
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