Karla Lotz, a Grade 7 singer from Curro Aurora Independent School, has had a colourful musical journey to date.
At eight years old she became the youngest vocal soloist to perform with the Johannesburg Symphony Orchestra at their annual Junior Concerto Festival and has performed with them three times since.
She’s also starred in two professional musical theatre productions at The People’s Theatre in Johannesburg, playing the role of Roo in Winnie the Pooh, and the lead role of Annie in 2018.
She’s had success at various eisteddfods and competitions, including reaching the semi-final of the National Eisteddfod Academy twice, and winning the Con Spirito National vocal category for primary schools last year.
The Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown turned the music world upside down and practically eliminated live performing opportunities, but Karla used this time to develop her skills on the piano and ukulele.
She was thrilled to have a live performance opportunity again at the regional round of Kids with Talent SA, where she won the self-accompanied category at the event and will participate at the finals in December.
The highlight of this year was when she was chosen as one of 30 Curro learners nationally to participate in their advanced mentorship programme, where she was paired with South African vocal powerhouse, Corlea Botha, as her mentor.
When Botha asked Karla if she wanted to pursue music as a career, she said, “At this point I want to keep my options open, but if the stars are calling, I’m not going to say no.”
