Paulina Malefane is a Cape Town born opera singer, who studied at UCT’s College of Music with Virginia Davids.
Later she became co-founder and co-Music Director of Isango Ensemble and has worked with members of the company since 2000. She was also an advocate for The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

The focus on People of Note this week is jazz and sound. Rodney Trudgeon’s guest will be a veteran sound engineer, Akbar Khan, who is the CEO and most seasoned Sound Engineer and Sound Designer of Eastern Acoustics. Aki, as he is known, has a passion for passing on his skills to the younger generation and has a host of stories to tell about his concerts during the apartheid era and working on big concerts such as the annual Cape Town International Jazz Festival.

Peter Shaffer’s award winning play Amadeus has just opened at Theatre on the Bay starring Alan Committie as Salieri and Aidan Scott as Mozart. This thrilling drama received worldwide acclaim with the film Amadeus and is always an incredible experience in the theatre, even though the theory Shaffer puts forward about Salieri murdering Mozart is not true. My guest on People of Note this week is Alan Committie who talks about his experience with this coveted role.

My guest on People of Note this week is the distinguished actor, director, writer, scenic and costume designer, Marcel Meyer who, with Fred Abrahamse, is co directing a newly written opera by the South African composer Conrad Asman. It’s called Trial by Media and concerns the Oscar Pistorious murder trial. It is one of three short operas in Cape Town Opera’s season called Shorts – the others are La Voix Humaine by Poulenc and Mozart’s Impressario.

Birds and birding feature in this week’s People of Note. I’ll be talking to Mike Buckham who has been passionate about bird watching since he was six years old. Now he is the Chairman of the Cape Bird Club and continues to attract new members and young people to the joy of bird watching.

Rodney Trudgeon’s guest on People of Note this week is Chantal Coetzee, who is an artist, feminist historian, speaker and radio presenter. Her current series of artworks is called African Queens: Restoring History and is her passion project. Her giant paintings are portraits of African Queens whose lives she has meticulously researched.

Lara Foot’s highly acclaimed production of Shakespeare’s OTHELLO is about to open at the Baxter. In the lead role is a son of John Kani, Atandwa Kani who is enjoying a hugely successful career based in New York with television, film and acting careers running side by side. Atandwa has won numerous awards locally and internationally and is very excited about this exciting new production of Othello in which he plays the title role.

My guest on People of Note this week is a highly respected and award winning journalist, author, broadcaster who has covered major events such as the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of Communism. His recent book with the provocative title, Why The Germans Do It Better was a best seller and his latest book is called In Search of Berlin. John is fascinated by Germany, although he is English, and has harsh words to say about Brexit.

The Luitingh Alexander Musical Theatre Academy, LAMTA, is presenting the highly anticipated musical “Spring Awakening”, the ground-breaking musical which garnered 8 Tony Awards on Broadway. On People of Note this week, Rodney Trudgeon will be talking to the two directors of Lamta, Anton Luitingh and Duane Alexander abou the show and about the success of their academy.

My guest on People of Note this week is a true philanthropist. In the face of dwindling or no sponsorship from national, regional and local governments, ALEXANDER VALENTIN has embraced the Cape Town Philharmonic orchestra’s Composer’s Competition and an exchange of students between Germany and South Africa which he will sponsor. Alexander is a German lawyer and investment consultant with business ties in South Africa and is my guest on People of Note this week.

A new play premiered at the Baxter Theatre to rave reviews. It’s called "Expelled" and focuses on the largely ungoverned world of social media in which a matric pupil at an elite school gets caught up in a viral scandal and is suspended. On People of Note Rodney spoke to the husband and wife team of Rosalind Butler, who wrote the play and Craig Freimond who directed it.