Opera singer Brittany Smith: “I'm going to show you what I'm made of.”

The moment Brittany Smith saw a passionate performance of Georges Bizet’s Carmen on a school choir outing, she knew her future lay in opera. “I felt something awaken deep inside of me,” Brittany says. But others were not so sure. “I was told multiple times that I would never be successful, that I'm not white enough to be an opera singer, I’m not black enough,” she says. “I turned around and I turned that into the fuel for my fire and look where I am now.”
Today, Brittany is a Fleur du Cap award-winning soloist with Cape Town Opera House hitting all the high notes and taking on roles that show her singing and acting skills across opera and theatre. But her journey hasn’t always been harmonious. At the age of 21, she contracted tuberculosis below her vocal chords which threatened to cause damage to her voice quality and cut short her career. Having made full recovery, she’s now advocating to end TB stigma while also using her voice to shine the spotlight on under recognised communities. “I became a representative for coloured culture on stage,” she says.

[@DerryPope]

I’m so glad she used the fuel to fire her passion. It’s so easy to be bitter but she seems radiant.