Sonja, a star in the making

Described as a ray of sunshine by all who know her, Sonja Listel Stander is also a star in the making.
The 33-year-old single mum, who works for the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) Unit of the Dundee SAPS is wowing locals with her nightingale-esque voice. Sonja will soon be releasing her debut album under her artist name Listel, her middle name.

The album will be titled Staan Sterk. Sonja’s love for music started at an early age when she sang along as her dad played guitar. She started writing poems and songs but never did anything with them. In school she always told her fellow classmates that one day she would be a singer, however, life happened and her dreams were put on hold. Sonja continued to write poems and songs and in 2008 she learnt to play the guitar.
She then started putting music to her writing, developing herself as an artist. Her big break came when filmmaker, Hendrick Bergh from Grip Productions, was looking for an original song for a new movie about Glencoe. He heard about Sonja and approached her to write one which summed up life in Glencoe. Sonja then wrote the song and music for it in one night, sending it over a WhatsApp voicenote to Mr Bergh.

He immediately fell in love with the song, Staan Sterk, and soon Sonja was recording the song in a studio and shooting the video for it as well. “It was super intimidating having the camera in your face but also fun. I had friends and family helping me and I laughed a lot.”

So impressed was Mr Bergh with her talent that he decided to not just stop at one song and produce a whole album for Sonja. He also asked her to compose a song for the stage production of his book, Vicky, a story about Human Trafficking. As a member of the FCS, channeling that emotion was easier as Sonja works with the issues the book deals with.

Once again the song was a success and Sonja will now perform it at the opening of the Stage Production of Vicky at a theatre in Pretoria on June 16. The show will be in conjunction with the Pink Ladies event. “I’m ecstatic to be performing this song in front of a live audience, the nerves will probably kick in later, but I have always been dreaming of the day when I perform on a stage, she said”.

Producers are also hoping to have her CD done before the big night so that fans can get a copy after her performance. The album will feature her own songs as well as covers. Sonja is also working on songs for her second album, which will be gospel themed. Her love for God is first and foremost in her life and through her album, she aims to give due praise. Sonja thanked God for her talent and her daughter, family and friends for all their support and belief, her colleagues for their amazing support and understanding and all who have listened to, liked or commented on her song that was shared on Facebook.
In a matter of three days it had already attracted over 3200 views and is still climbing. Of course her now manager, Hendrick Bergh receives plenty of thanks.

The road ahead is still a long one but one that Sonja is eager to travel on. “It’s not going to be an easy journey with overnight success but I’m willing to put in the hard work because in the end it will pay off.”
Just like the title of her debut album, Sonja plans to ‘staan sterk’.

You can listen to Sonja’s song on her Facebook page by clicking here.