Botswana artists on Commonwealth Games song

 Involving more than 150 artists from Scotland, New Zealand, Botswana, India, South Africa and a few other countries, Anamchara (Gaelic for ‘soul friends’) is a song cycle — a friendship oratorio — that explores the ties that bind us, rather than the demons that drive us to tears and worse, says Calgarian Col Cseke, the producer. “This is a very optimistic opera,” says Cseke on a Skype call from Glasgow.

The project, part of the cultural component of the Commonwealth Games, has its world première July 25 in Glasgow, which is where Cseke has been holed up for the past month, working as an artistic associate. He’s there working alongside Calgary Opera Emerging Artist alumni Jennifer Sproule and Ben Covey, who are performing the seven song cycle alongside other singers and dancers from around the globe, including The No. 1 Ladies Opera House in Botswana, South Africa’s Cape Town Opera, Australia’s Queensland Opera, the New Zealand Opera, Scottish Opera and India’s Yuva Ekta Foundation.