Christine Crouse

Christine Crouse is a highly respected Opera Director and Arts practitioner in South Africa, with a career spanning over forty-seven years. Christine was brought up in an operatic household. Her mother Nellie du Toit, was one of South Africa’s foremost Opera Singers in the pioneering days of Opera. Crouse studied BA (Drama) at the University of Pretoria, whereafter she joined CAPAB (Cape Performing Arts Board) as a Stage Manager in 1977, where she was subsequently promoted to Resident Director. In 1998 she filled the position of Project Manager at the Baxter Theatre at the University of Cape Town. She re-joined Cape Town Opera in 2003 as Opera Organiser and was appointed as Artistic Director in 2006. As Artistic Director of Cape Town Opera she was the first ever South African to join the jury of the International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition in Amsterdam in 2013. Under her tenure CTO’s chorus won the prestigious “Chorus of the year” award in London in 2013. In 2015, she stepped down as Artistic Director and became Head of Education and Outreach. She has directed many operas in South Africa, such as Le nozze di Figaro, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Don Giovanni (Mozart) Aida, La Traviata (Verdi), Der Rosenkavalier (Richard Strauss) Madama Butterfly, La rondine, La bohème (Puccini), for which she was awarded the Nederburg Opera Prize in 1991, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Curlew River (Britten) as well as Njeza’s Amagokra. Her highly acclaimed production of the Gershwin's Porgy and Bess for Cape Town Opera toured to Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, France and South America. In 2018, this production had its debut performance, in its 9^th year of touring, in South Korea.

Christine has been a part-time lecturer and Stage Director at Opera UCT for many years. She has mentored many young artists in South Africa, many of them following careers abroad and is at present holding the position of Projects Manager at Opera UCT.