About Angelina

Hello. I’m Angelina Kalahari – named after the Kalahari desert in Namibia - the place of my birth.

On 1 March 2005 I was invited by The Queen to Buckingham Palace in recognition of my contribution to the music culture and economy of the UK. This led to large media exposure as I was featured on TV: BBC1 and also The London Today programme which ran a segment on me throughout the day in each of their news programmes. A short documentary on me also followed that evening on The London Tonight Programme. Radio interviews included one with LBC and also Danny Baker’s early morning show on BBC Radio One. Newspaper interviews appeared in the Sunday Express, Metro and Independent. I also received an invitation to appear on the award winning This Morning TV show hosted by Fern Britton and Phillip Schofield.

However, as if meeting The Queen wasn’t enough, I was really excited about meeting fellow guests and musical heroes like Eric Clapton, Jools Holland, Bryn Terfel, Shirley Bassey Dr Evelyn Glennie, Dame Vera Lynn and many more.

In May 2003 I joined the London Underground Licenced Busking Scheme, endorsed by the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone. And never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined this would lead to an invitation to perform at Buckingham Palace and, also to a lunch-time recital at The Royal Opera House, in Covent Garden.

When not singing elsewhere at booked events or on stage in my own recitals, I can be found singing at various London Underground stations, where commuters always seem pleasantly surprised to meet me. As a result, I have appeared on prime time television, most notably on ITV’s London Tonight Programme at the launch of the Busking Scheme, as well as a documentary on Buskers on the Underground. Also, all the major newspapers have featured interviews with me.

The Underground has also brought its own work for me, because performing there is like auditioning live ! Other engagements allowed me to sing for Cabinet Ministers, but the most exciting event was the opportunity to sing a lunch-time recital at The Royal Opera House. I was most fortunate to be able to rehearse for this event with renowned West End master vocal coach, Mary King.

Other engagements have included singing at Masked Balls, both in the UK and also in Venice, and at a number of prestigious private parties and weddings. Another exciting event was being invited to sing at a launch party as part of London's Fashion Week in 2005. Of course, I probably love singing my own recitals and concerts most of all !

But to tell you a little more about myself: I was around five years old when I won my first singing competition. However, living as we did then on a farm in the middle of the desert, I had to wait until we moved to Cape Town five years later, before I could start studying with distinguished singing teacher, Len Clark.

Aged twenty, and after continuing to win numerous reputable competitions and eistedfods, mainly in South Africa, I decided to stop singing altogether and went to drama school. But prior to the change in direction, I participated as a principle in operas such as Amahl and The Night Visitors and was cast as the female lead in Lock Up Your Daughters among other musicals, and was fortunate to be able to appear on some of Cape Town's premier theatre stages. 

I loved the drama classes, which opened up a whole new world to me and I excelled in my studies as performer and director at the Academy for Dramatic Art and the University of Cape Town, where I completed my degree course with distinction. After working as an actress at the now-defunct People's Space Theatre in Cape Town with Richard E Grant and in another, with Henry Goodman (before they were famous)  - I had the opportunity to direct. I became rather successful as a theatre director and won acclaim for my work in South Africa, the UK and Hong Kong, where I also worked as soprano and as a voice dynamics facilitator.

A substantial amount of corporate voice dynamics work included clients like HSBC, Cathay Pacific Airways, Bloomberg Financial, Dale Carnegie, as well as the Governor of Hong Kong before the hand-over. Private students included dentists, teachers, TV presenters, actors & actresses, MBA students at The Chinese University, lawyers and even a judge !

My first passion, however, remains singing and I count myself extremely fortunate to have been accepted to continue my studies with renowned singing teachers; Jeffrey Talbot and Mary King.

Since my return to studying singing seriously again, I have been invited to sing in a number of concerts and recitals around London and also in Italy, France, South Africa and Ireland.

Future plans include the possibility of a reality TV programme, involving the making of a CD, DVD and a tour of the haunting music of Nambia.