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Golda Schultz is a South African Soprano based in Berlin, Germany, but her path to operatic greatness is not a typical one. Born in the early 1980s at the height of apartheid, Golda grew up within a bubble, surrounded by people who looked like her and so the realities of racial segregation in the rest of South Africa seemed somewhat remote. That was until the early 1990s, when Golda's town was besieged by white supremacists who objected to everything the place stood for. Her love of music led her to the stage but her mind and body threatened to disrupt her ambitions.

Michelle Vargas Lao is a singer from the Philippines, now based in Canada. In 2013 she won a nationwide talent contest for Filippino singers called the Global Pinoy Singing Idol and she went on to win a trip back home to Manila. But Michelle's introduction to singing was an unusual one: she grew up within a prison compound, where her mother worked, and it was the female prisoners who first taught her how to sing to express her emotions. This was to become a lifeline for Michelle in times of turbulence.

Presenter: Mobeen Azhar

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(Photo: Golda Schultz: Photo Credit: Vittorio Greco)