# Stéfan Louw

Stéfan Louw is a South African operatic tenor, regarded as one of South Africa's leading tenors. He has been performing opera since 1995.

## Early life and education

Stéfan Louw was born on 22 September 1973. He studied at the University of South Africa from 1988 to 1991 and later at the University of Pretoria from 1993 to 1995. His passion for opera began in his early years and was nurtured through extensive vocal training with renowned instructors such as Nellie du Toit and Emma Renzi.

## Career

Louw made his professional operatic debut in 1999 as Beppe in I Pagliacci at the Pretoria State Theatre. The role earned him the FNB Vita Opera Award for Most Promising Newcomer. He remained a member of the chorus until 2001, often performing supporting character roles. In 2000, he became one of the founding members of the Black Tie Ensemble (BTE). When Louw made his leading-role debut as Cavaradossi in Tosca (2003), he decided to quit his full-time job as a sales person at Incredible Connection to focus on his opera career.
Over the years, he built a distinguished career, performing lead tenor roles in productions such as Alfredo in La Traviata, Rodolfo in La Bohème, and Don José in Carmen. His performance as Rodolfo in 2005 was described by The Sunday Times as one delivered by a "national treasure".
Internationally, Louw debuted in 2008 at the Vichy Opera in France as Pollione in Norma. The same year, he portrayed Radames in Aida at the Opéra de Dijon. His versatility has also been showcased in performances of classical oratorios, including Messiah by Handel and Beethoven's Symphony No. 9.
Louw's artistry extended to opera direction with the establishment of Big Wig Opera in 2015, which produced several operas under his leadership, including Madama Butterfly and L’elisir d’amore.
In 2024, Louw ventured into the Crooning era with the release of his third album,The Book of Elvis, an album featuring his renditions of Elvis Presley’s ballads. He released his second album, Lirico- A collection of lyric arias, in 2018.

## Notable Productions

| Date | Opera | Composer | Role | Language | Director | Conductor | Producer |
| April 1999 | I Pagliacci | Leoncavallo | Beppe | Italian | Michael Williams | Bruno Aprea | Pretoria State Theatre Opera |
| May 1999 | Debut with Mimi | n/a | Tenor | n/a | Mimi Coertse | Christopher Dowdeswell | Mimi Coertse |
| August 1999 | Turandot | Puccini | Pang | Italian | Angelo Gobbato | Gérard Korsten | Pretoria State Theatre Opera |
| May 2000 | La Traviata | Verdi | Alfredo | Italian | Amanda van Zyl | Willem Vogel | Salon Music |
| December 2000 | La Traviata | Verdi | Alfredo | Italian | Amanda van Zyl | Willem Vogel | Salon Music |
| May 2001 | The Gypsy Baron | Strauss | Barinkay | English | Federico Freschi | Willem Vogel | Salon Music |
| July 2003 | Tosca | Puccini | Cavaradossi | Italian | Emma Renzi | Weiss Doubell | Pro Musica Opera |
| April 2004 | La Traviata | Verdi | Alfredo | Italian | Themi Venturas | Jeremy Silver | Opera Africa |
| July 2004 | Madama Butterfly | Puccini | Pinkerton | Italian | Amanda van Zyl | Weiss Doubell | Pro Musica Opera |
| April 2005 | Die Fledermaus | Strauss | Von Eisenstein | English | Steven Stead | Naum Rousine | The Durban Playhouse Company |
| July 2005 | Rigoletto | Verdi | The Duke of Mantua | Italian | Steven Stead | Jeremy Silver | Opera Africa |
| September 2005 | La Bohème | Puccini | Rodolfo | Italian | Hans van Heerden | Weiss Doubell | Pro Musica Opera |
| March 2006 | Le Contes d'Hoffmann | Offenbach | Hoffmann | Italian | Ralph Lawson | Graham Scott | The Durban Playhouse Company |
| August 2006 | A Tribute to Mario Lanza | n/a | Tenor | n/a | Neels Hansen | Graham Scott | The Black Tie Ensemble |
| October 2006 | I Capuleti e I Montecchi | Bellini | Tebaldo | Italian | Laurence Dale | Jeremy Silver | Opera Africa |
| March 2008 | Aïda | Verdi | Radames | Italian | Laurance Dale | Vincent de Kort | Opera Africa |
| September 2008 | Norma | Bellini | Pollione | Italian | Charles Roubaud | Cyril Diederich | Opéra de Vichy |
| December 2008 | Aïda | Verdi | Radames | Italian | Eric Perez | Alain Altinoglu | Opéra de Dijon |
| June 2009 | Madama Butterfly | Puccini | Pinkerton | Italian | Christine Crouse | Francesco Bonnin | Cape Town Opera |
| April 2010 | La Bohème | Puccini | Rodolfo | Italian | Themi Venturas | Timothy Myers | Opera Africa |
| June 2011 | Opera Extravaganza | n/a | Tenor | n/a | Laurence Dale | Leslie Dunner | Opera Africa |
| October 2011 | La Traviata | Verdi | Alfredo | Italian | Alessandro Talevi | Albert Horne | Cape Town Opera |
| October 2013 | Symphony No 9 | Beethoven | Tenor | English | Bongani Tembe | Justus Frantz | KZN Philharmonic Orchestra |
| April 2014 | La Traviata | Verdi | Alfredo | Italian | Stéfan Louw | Doron Kanar | Stéfan Louw |
| April 2014 | Messiah | Handel | Tenor | English | n/a | Naum Rousine | The Durban Playhouse Company |
| December 2014 | Werther | Massenet | Werther | French | Stéfan Louw | Eugene Joubert (pianist) | Stéfan Louw |
| May 2015 | La Bohème | Puccini | Rodolfo | Italian | Elizabeth Lombard | Graham Scott | Big Wig Opera |
| December 2017 | La Traviata | Verdi | Alfredo | Italian | Stéfan Louw | Schalk van der Merwe | Stéfan Louw |
| June 2018 | Carmen | Bizet | Don José | French | Daniel Verster | Schalk van der Merwe | Sempre Opera |
| November 2019 | Petite messe solenelle | Rossini | Tenor | Latin | n/a | Leona Geldenhuys | University of the Free State |
| December 2019 | La Traviata | Verdi | Alfredo | Italian | Stéfan Louw | Schalk van der Merwe | Stéfan Louw |
| March 2024 | Messiah | Handel | Tenor | English | Ralph Lawson | Jeremy Silver | The Durban Playhouse Company |

## Opera entrepreneur

In 2003, Louw started producing small opera concerts at churches in-between professional productions. By 2010, his concert series Aria! Opera for Everyone was so popular that it ran for four seasons at the Roodepoort Theatre (2010–2014). These concerts aimed to bring true opera aficionados a measure of quality, whilst at the same time encouraging new audiences to appreciate true opera.
In March 2011, Louw founded his first opera company in Gauteng – Sempre Opera. In February 2013, he handed the reins to his colleague Linette van der Merwe (mezzo-soprano), who then took over as head of the organisation.
Louw then formed a second opera company in Gauteng – Big Wig Opera. The company successfully produced three full operas – La Bohème, L'elisir d'amore and Madama Butterfly – in its first year of operations (2015) of which Louw performed in one and directed two. After spending a year singing in Greece during the 2017/18 season, Louw returned to South Africa and founded The Little Theatre Company, which is based in the Vaal Triangle.

### Vocal coach

In 2019, Louw founded the Stéfan Louw School of Singing in Parys, South Africa, providing vocal training to students from diverse backgrounds. The school has become a cornerstone of the Parys music community, offering lessons in both English and Afrikaans and focusing on a variety of genres, from opera to jazz and gospel.

## Opera repertoire

* Alfredo in La traviata
* Calaf in Turandot
* Canio in Pagliacci
* Cavaradossi in Tosca
* Don José in Carmen
* Hoffmann in Les contes d'Hoffmann
* Manrico in Il trovatore
* Otello in Otello
* Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly
* Pollione in Norma
* Radames in Aida
* Rodolfo in La bohème
* The Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto
* Tonio in La fille du régiment
* Von Eisenstein'in Die Fledermaus
* Werther in Werther

## Oratorio repertoire

* Puccini's Messa di Gloria
* Handel's Messiah
* Rossini's Stabat Mater
* Beethoven's Ninth Symphony
* Beethoven's Missa Solemnis
* Dvorak's Mass in D major
* Rossini's Petite messe solennelle
* Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde
* Verdi's Requiem

## Personal life

Louw met his wife, Marisa (Van Aswegen), in June 1996 when they were both members of the State Theatre Opera Chorus in the opera Tosca. They got married in Gordon's Bay on 20 February 1999.
In 2019, during the peak of Marisa's breast cancer treatment, Louw embarked on doing solo performances at private events to raise funds for her treatments. This period marked a turning point in his life, during which he embarked on producing small-scale productions and concerts which included house concerts at his home in Parys.
Beyond his professional endeavours, Louw enjoys playing PC games and recreational angling. Both he and Marisa are passionate animal lovers, sharing their home with Pekingese dogs, a Senegal parrot, an African Grey parrot, Budgerigars (commonly known as Budgies), and two pet mini-pigs.