The South African tenor Siyabonga Maqungo has been a permanent ensemble member of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden since the 2020/21 season where he has performed as David (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg), Count Almaviva (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Jeweler (Sleepless), Tamino (Die Zauberflöte), Jaquino (Fidelio) and Trin (La fanciulla del West). In previous seasons, he was a member of the ensemble of the Staatstheater Meinigen (2015 – 2018) and the Theater Chemnitz (2018 – 2020). During this time, Maqungo has explored a broad repertoire from baroque to contemporary music, and has demonstrated his gift for comedy in the field of operetta. Highlights include roles such as Ferrando (Così fan tutte), Alfred (Die Fledermaus), Walter von der Vogelweide (Tannhäuser), Froh (Das Rheingold) and Electrician (Thomas Adès’s Powder her face).

Maqungo has also made a name for himself as a concert artist under conductors such as Rolf Beck, Helmuth Rilling, Osmo Vänskä, Antonio Pappano, Vladimir Jurowski and Daniel Barenboim. Guest engagements have already taken him to the Leipzig Opera, Wuppertal Opera, Philharmonie in Cologne and Festival of the Burg Gars Opera. He appears as Pong (Turandot) in the acclaimed new recording for Warner Classics made with the forces of Accademia di Santa Cecliia in Rome under Sir Antonio Pappano 

Maqungo completed his studies at the North-West University in South Africa and at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln with Josef Protschka. In 2018 he won second prize at the Portofino International Opera Competition and in 2019 he was nominated for the International Opera Awards in the Young Singer category.