FEBRUARY 2026 | SELEMO, NEUKÖLLNER OPER, BERLIN
Photographer | Jan Windszus
Back into the light, into beauty, and into life. Spring represents the power of transformation, rebirth, and an ancient promise of prosperity. What can this fantasy of abundance mean for us – culturally, spiritually, and sonically – across geographical boundaries?
In February 2026, the experimental opera, Selemo, debuted at Neuköllner Oper, Berlin.
A co-production with The Centre for the Less Good Idea, Komische Oper, Berlin and Neuköllner Oper, Selemo is a new chamber opera conceptualised by South African composers and performers Sbusiso Shozi and Nhlanhla Mahlangu, with musical mentorship by Neo Muyanga.
Following The Centre’s performance of African Exodus at Komische Oper in 2023, an invitation was extended to Shozi and Mahlangu to create a new work. After a period of incubative workshops at The Centre in 2025, Selemo was born.
Photographer | Jan Windszus
Together with soloists and orchestral musicians from the Komische Oper Berlin, engage in a musical conversation about returning to a deeply rooted understanding of nature beyond the colonial calendar system, where African rites of passage encounter Antonio Vivaldi’s violin concerto The Four Seasons.
Turbulence, grief, and beauty: For many South Africans, the first season symbolises not only the end of (winter’s) hardship, but is also concretely tied to historical-political memories of student uprisings and strikes. Just as spring itself repeatedly refuses to settle, the springtime opera Selemo falters, repeats, and begins anew in three movements. Its world premiere at the music theater festival SCHALL&RAUSCH demonstrates that the hope for renewal must be tested again and again.
Selemo ran from 12 February to 1 March 2026.
CREDITS
CO-COMPOSER & MUSICAL DIRECTOR | S’busiso Shozi
CO-COMPOSER & STAGE DIRECTOR | Nhlanhla Mahlangu
MUSICIANS & PERFORMERS | Hlengiwe Lushaba Madlala, Tshegofatso Khunwane, Gregory “Kekelingo” Mabusela, Vhahangwele Moopo, Pertunia Msani & Alma Sadé, and musicians Deniz Tahberer, Julia Lindner de Azevedo Conte, Magdalena Bogner, Arnulf Ballhorn & Tuyêt Pham
MUSICAL MENTOR | Neo Muyanga
PRODUCER | Bronwyn Lace
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER | Dimakatso Motholo
COSTUME & STAGE DESIGNER | Nthabiseng Malaka
ASSISTANT STAGE DESIGNER | Elena Gorlatova
LIGHT DESIGNER Michael Inglis
VISUAL ARTIST | Marcus Neustetter
SCRIPT WRITER | Stacy Hardy
DRAMATURGES | Sophie Jira & Dennis Depta
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR & STAGE MANAGER | Sandra M. Heinzelmann
PRODUCTION MANAGER | Lucia Leyser