World Cup South African opera singer dies
Siphiwo Ntshebe, who was to sing the key song at the World Cup opening on June 11 in Johannesburg, has died suddenly from a virulent form of meningitis just as his career was about to take off.
Siphiwo Ntshebe, 34, was admitted to hospital in his hometown of Port Elizabeth last week and died on Tuesday, announced his label Epic Records.
“He had a truly wondrous voice and his music was unique in its melodies and its messages of hope and compassion,” said Epic head Nick Raphael in statement released on Wednesday.
“We are all in shock,” his aunt Nollsa Ntshebe told the West Cape News.
Ntshebe, who had been compared to the late Luciano Pavarotti, was due to perform Hope on June 11 at the opening event. The piece contained a spoken-word segment featuring Mandela.
“May his spirit lead us to 11 June 2010,” said opening ceremony producer Lebo M. “May his soul rest in peace and may Siphiwo’s spirit of hope centre us all.”
Made soccer balls from paper and plastic
Ntshebe grew up in a corrugated shack in a ghetto of Port Elizabeth. He started singing at the age of five, begging a neighbour to play Puccini or Mozart on his record player in return for gardening tasks.
“Although I didn’t understand Italian, the music somehow spoke to me,’ he once told the Daily Mail newspaper.
He would end up performing small operas and musical plays that his father wrote for the local church and was eventually awarded scholarship on the choral programme at the University in Cape Town. He was then offered yet another scholarship to study in Brisbane, Australia in the Young Artists Programme.
In 2004, he achieved another major milestone — winning a scholarship to the Royal College of Music in London.
Ntshebe was also a soccer fan. In previous interviews, he recalled making balls out of paper or plastic so he and his friends could enjoy a game.
The singer’s last post on his Facebook account, dated May 12, was telling: “Killing headache, body aches, vomiting but the doctor says it’s just fever …”
Ntshebe, who had just signed a five-record deal with Sony, had completed recording the World Cup tracks.