FoCTO Bursary Competition

About

What is FoCTO?

The Opera Friends of Cape Town is an independent non-profit organisation aimed at raising and distributing philanthropic funds in support of local operatic talent. They have a long history of supporting opera in Cape Town, and more specifically of supporting the young singers of UCT as they prepare to continue their journeys into the profession.

It is made up of a mixed group of local people from all over the Cape area, who share a passion for music, singers and imaginative stage-production and who want to see our special art-form thrive in these challenging times.

FoCTO continues to fund talented students to pursue an education at Opera UCT, under the leadership of Prof Jeremy Silver. FoCTO has supported many students from Opera UCT for various programmes, both in South Africa and abroad.

The 2026 Bursary

Young singers are competing for three FoCTO prizes, while we are delighted to host two additional prizes, the Guy Carter Award and the Music of Note Award for a young up-and-coming singer, donated by Elizabeth Handley, which is awarded to a singer who is not necessarily one of the finalists, but who shows immense promise at an earlier stage of their journey.

The competition will take place in 2 rounds. The first internal round will take place on the afternoon of Tuesday 17 March. The second round in front of a larger panel will take place as a public event in the Baxter Concert Hall on Tuesday 24 March 2026 at 7pm.

Who is eligible?

The competition is open for students in their 3rd year or above.

What are the criteria?

Students are asked to prepare 3 operatic arias, of which we will probably hear two at the first round. You will choose your first aria, and we will make a choice from your other two arias as to what you will sing next. 

2026 Competition details

CLOSING DATE:

Please complete this online entry form before Tuesday 10 March 2026.

PRELIMINARY ROUND: Tuesday 17 March 2026, C6, from 3:30pm onwards.

FINAL ROUND: Tuesday 24 March 2026, Baxter Concert Hall, 7pm,

Entrance requirements 

The South African College of Music hereby invites applications for the FoCTO Bursary Awards competition. This competition is open to any full-time classical voice students at the SACM who:

Required Repertoire

Preliminary Round:

We ask you to prepare 3 operatic arias, of which we will probably hear two at the first round. You will choose your first aria, and we will make a choice from your other two arias as to what you will sing next. 

Final Round: Each finalist will perform 2 operatic arias.

• Your vocal teacher needs to approve your repertoire selection.
• All music must be memorised for both rounds.
• Your programme should be performed in the order listed on this entry form.
• Any programme changes MUST be communicated to the co-ordinator (fiona.grayer@uct.ac.za) at least 1 week before the competition starts.
• Remember to put correct accents on ie. ř ä ů é ñ