The South African tenor Siyabonga Maqungo has been a member of the ensemble at the Chemnitz Theater since 2018/19, where he sings roles such as Tamino Die Zauberflöte, Alfred Die Fledermaus and Jaquino Fidelio. In 2018 he made his debut as Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Leipzig Opera. He makes his debut at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden with the role of David in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. In 2019 he was nominated in the Young Singer category for the International Opera Awards. In 2018 he won second prize at the Portofino International Opera Competition. From 2015 to 2018, Siyabonga Maqungo was in the ensemble of the Meiningen State Theater, where he was able to develop a broad repertoire from baroque to Mozart, operetta to Richard Wagner and modernity. He made his debut as Tamino in 2017 at the Burg Gars Opera under Johannes Wildner. The young tenor has also made a name for himself as a concert singer with orchestras such as the Minnesota Orchestra under conductors such as Rolf Beck, Helmut Rilling and Osmo Vänskä with works by Bach and Handel as well as Mozart and Rossini. He began his studies at North-West University in South Africa and, after completing his bachelor’s degree in 2014, switched to the University of Music and Dance Cologne. In Cologne he was offered a master's degree, which he completed with distinction under Josef Protschka.