Thando Mjandana

South African tenor Thando Mjandana is a Link Artist (2018/19) on the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme.

Mjandana was born in Queenstown, Eastern Cape, and started singing as a member of his school choir and at church. He continued his studies at the University of Cape Town Opera School (UCT) and went on to become a member of Cape Town Opera AD HOC. For UCT and with Cape Town Opera he has sung roles in Il viaggio a Reims, La traviata, Rigoletto, Le nozze di Figaro, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Carmen, Porgy and Bess, Mandela Trilogy, Sibusiso Njeza’s Blood of Mine and Angelique Mouysis’s The Blue-Eyed Xhosa. He has participated in Cape Town Opera’s outreach programme as Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, and in events in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Argentina, Ireland and the UK. In the 2018/19 Season he made his English National Opera debut as Nelson in Porgy and Bess.

In concert, Mjandana’s appearances include Uriel in The Creation with KwaZulu Natal Philharmonic Orchestra. His competition successes including First Prize for a South African song and Third Prize in the Amazwi Omzantsi International Opera Singing Competition.