Denean sacred fire9/19/2023 ![]() “They called my name so many times I was like, ‘No, God please let this one go to someone else.’ I felt unworthy … hearing the kind of finesse that my peers had.” ![]() “The very first opera competition that I did was in Vienna, Austria, where I won everything possible,” she remembered. She started making a name for herself in South Africa while still a student at the University of Cape Town, and in 2011, Yende graduated from the Young Artists program at the Accademia at the Teatro alla Scala, in Milan, Italy, and began entering opera competitions. Michelly Rall/Getty Images Europe/Getty Images Pretty Yende performs with tenor Andrea Bocelli in Johannesburg, in July 2010. My gosh, my family were in trouble, because I wouldn’t stop practicing and shouting.” Her parents allowed her to study music at university on the condition that she would switch back to an accountancy degree if singing didn’t work out. “I would play the recording the whole day. “I remember recording it and imitating it,” she said. I did not believe human beings could do it,” she recalled. “Hearing this music and the power of it, sounded like something supernatural. Then she saw opera for the first time on TV at the age of 16. Yende never considered a career in music – she intended to study accountancy at university. It became the first step on the road to performing in front of massive audiences. When her grandmother first invited her to sing in public, she knew how uncomfortable it would be to stand in front of people, but she obliged. Yende says that as a shy child, she always wanted to please her family. Her most direct link to music was church hymns. Born in a tiny, rural town formerly known as Piet Retief, now eMkhondo, in Mpumulanga, South Africa, she had a happy, conventional religious upbringing. The story of how Yende reached the pinnacle of her career is an inspirational one. All the emotions were just rushing in,” she said, remembering the invitation.īut given the 38-year-old’s remarkable journey, it’s surprising that she was surprised at all. ![]() ![]() At times reminiscent of Lisa Thiel, or even Eliza Gilkyson in her more shamanic moments, Denean has created an album of strong melodies and plenty of atmosphere, inspiring us to "spiral to the center of the light / where sacred dreams and visions do abide / awaken to the calling of Great Spirit / soaring with the winged ones of the sky.“I was overwhelmed, shocked, happy. Opening and closing the album are two versions of "Passage to the Earth Mother" - a largely instrumental invocation featuring fire, water and insect sounds, Native flute and a "Hey Ah" chant, along with keyboards and percussion - while brief "Interludes" connect several of the tracks in a similar fashion. Half the pieces are chants sung only to the accompaniment of Native drums, rattles and sleigh bells, while the other tunes are songs based in the Western folk tradition, with piano and synthesizer added to sweeten the arrangements. Her strong clear voice sings of oneness with the earth and its creatures, of visions, sacred places, healing and light. Discovered by Dik Darnell, who produced and plays on her album Fire Prayer, Denean is a singer whose self-penned songs draw their inspiration from the nature-based spirituality of Native American tribal people. ![]()
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