UCT graduate and renowned tenor Sidwill Hartman will sing the lead male role in Werther by Jules Massenet, as the production returns to entertain Cape Town opera lovers with a series of performances in June.

The award-winning, Cape Town-born Hartman, who graduated from the Opera School in the early 1980s, joins internationally acclaimed Michelle Breedt, who will play Charlotte.

Hartman is the first South African to receive a full scholarship to the Juilliard School of Music in New York, and has numerous awards to his name, including the Nederburg Opera Prize.

Werther will be directed by Staffan Aspegren with the Cape Philharmonic orchestra conducted by Kamal Khan. It will be staged by Cape Town Opera at the Artscape Opera House on 7, 10, 12 and 14 June at 19h30.