Magdalene has been creating theatrical music experiences since 2001 and directed her first opera in 2004 as part of the Soft Serve Arts Festival in Cape Town. She has worked on several operatic and interdisciplinary productions over the past years, including La Bohéme (Cape Town Opera, Innibos Festival), Monteverdi's L’Orfeo (co-director with Jaco Bouwer, Cape Town Opera), Poulenc's La Voix Humaine (Impac Festival; Youngblood Arts & Culture),The Recycled Magic Flute (Johannesburg International Mozart Festival), and Calling Us Home (new South African musical).

 

It is her continued mission to reinvent Classical music in South Africa, an objective which inspired her to become involved in the conceptualisation and production of various original projects, as well as commissioning a large body of new South African works for various chamber music groups and ensembles, as well as several operas over the past 19 years. These include the acclaimed pastiche opera Waansin (Woordfees, KKNK, NAF), new Afrikaans opera Poskantoor (which received multiple awards and recognition as Best Overall Production at the Aardklop Arts Festival in 2014) as well as her Eco-Opera series of “recycled” operas.

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In 2010 she started Biblioteek Productions, which provides a platform for artists and creatives to collaborate on theatrical music productions and conceptual experiences. Acclaimed projects such as Co/Mission, In The Dark and Opera in 1 Hour focus strongly on contemporary Classical music.

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She is also the founder of Little Maestros Classical Concerts for Kids and Clever Classical Kids.