Cash injection by MTN resuscitates Black Tie Ensemble
A R2m cash injection from MTN will keep the Black Tie Ensemble (BTE) on stage. Financial difficulties threatened to mute the Pretoria-based opera and classical music group early this year, after its sponsorships dried up.
"By supporting this initiative, MTN is ploughing back to its communities, while also contributing to the ongoing efforts to develop and promote this genre of music to the wider public," says Paul Norman, group chief human resources and corporate affairs officer for MTN.
The MTN sponsorship will enable the group to host four concerts in Johannesburg this year. These are the Forté: Power of the Voice on 21 March, the Verdi Opera Gala on June 15, the One Voice: An African Celebration on 27 September and the Annual Christmas concert on 30 November.
Graham Scott will conduct concert
The concert on 21 March, which is a celebration of Human Rights Day, will feature Graham Scott, an internationally acclaimed conductor, and the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra. The concert will take place at the Linder Auditorium in Parktown, Johannesburg. Two of the other concerts are also linked to South African national days: Youth Day and Heritage Day.
"We are grateful to MTN for resuscitating the ensemble, just when we thought our hour of death was near. Support for the performance arts remains an unfortunate challenge in our country, so it is always heart-warming when a giant corporation such as MTN sees the value and invest in our art form," says Marcus Desando, artistic director.
Apprenticeship for aspiring artists
The donation from MTN will also allow the BTE to empower aspiring artists who cannot afford to enrol for formal singing training. The ensemble runs an incubator scheme, which is an apprenticeship programme that provides free training and exposes aspiring opera artists from poor backgrounds to stage performances. The apprenticeship is a three year programme in which the
aspirants are trained into full blown opera artists.
Tickets to the first concert on 21 March are available at Computicket at R180, R160 and R140. A 10% discount will be given to pensioners and block bookings of ten or more.
