Read this excerpt from Portland Press Herald’s article, “Let them entertain you: 12 artists who will be in Maine this summer”;
“NAME: Goitsemang Lehobye
BACKGROUND: Lehobye was born in Ga-Rankuwa, South Africa, and first heard opera during a television broadcast featuring the South African Black Tie Opera Ensemble. Since 2017, she has been studying at the University of Michigan and recently completed a doctorate degree. This will be her first time in Maine and her first appearance with Opera Maine. One of her career highlights was being a soloist for the tour of the Minnesota Orchestra to South Africa where she premiered a work by Bongani Ndodana called “Harmonia Ubuntu.”
THIS SUMMER: The soprano has roles in both of Opera Maine’s performances this summer: “Rappahannock County” (June 28-30) and “Aida” (July 25-28).
HOW SHE WILL APPROACH HER ROLE IN “RAPPAHANNOCK COUNTY”: This opera is a theatrical song cycle, which means Lehobye will represent different characters during the production. “I’ve never done anything like this before. … It’s exciting to learn a new composer, a new style of work. That’s what’s interesting about it, and to have multiple characters that I can play within my character. It is challenging me to make them different.””