Amira announcing her upcoming streaming concert

Amira, from the prerecording session for the Dream with me concert that streams September 11-13. Recording was done at Atterbury Theatre, Pretoria on August 22, 2020. Image by OPTOG. Ticket Details. Viewing Instructions.

The enthusiasm on Amira's fansites is out the roof! Amira fans are very passionate about their idol. People are buying tickets from nearly every country in the world. Fansite administrator Alan Jones says he's personally heard from people who have already bought tickets in UK, Poland, USA, Germany, Japan, The Netherlands, Canada, and Ireland.

There's also a lot of buzz about this concert in Latin America, where Amira is super popular. Comments are continously appearing on her Youtube video announcement from Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Uruguay, Chile, and Argentina.

And here is some press about the event.

Translating from the Afrikaans

[PRETITLE] Teen star conducts a concert
[HEADING] "AMIRA HAS EVERYONE RENDERED IN JOYFUL TEARS" [SUBHEADING] Aspires to raise the spirits of online viewers. (WRITTEN BY AJ OPPERMAN)

THE ARTICLE: Amira Willighagen's (Dutch teen singer) first solo concert, including "some more uplifting songs during these times" will be streamed by "Optog!" next month.

"Dream with me" was recently recorded in the Atterbury Theatre in Pretoria. Amira was singing all by herself, but did share the stage with pianist Charl du Plessis and violinist Lizelle le Roux. "Optog!" priorly contacted Rosa Kleyn, Amira's booking agent, suggesting a possibility for such a concert to happen. "I actually very much enjoyed it because I couldn't perform during the lockdown," says Amira Willighagen (16), who won the Holland's Got Talent TV competition at the age of 9. She has performed in numerous other countries ever since and she was rewarded with the title "BEST FEMALE OPERA STAR" by the International Organisation for Diplomatic Relations in the Mediterranean area (southern Italy) last year.

"I didn't even know whether or not I would be able to conduct a streaming concert," Amira dutifully admits, who currently lives in Potchefstroom (where her grandmother from her mother's side of the family tree used to live) and is a pupil in 10th grade at Hoer Volkskool. She is singing 11 songs while 10 are entirely new.

"I'm singing a classical Afrikaans song, that will undoubtedly appeal to the Afrikaans viewers."

"There are also crossover songs included, as well as opera songs and songs from musicals. I love singing those songs and giving a personal twist to it to make it more unique."

"These are alleviating (uplifting) songs during these treacherous times. I wish to render people more hopeful, so I think after people listened to it, they will be delighted, content, but also in tears."

She studied and prepared for the songs with the aid of her Dutch singing coach, Marijke Hocksbergen. Amira evidently enjoyed the recordings for her solo streaming concert. "It merely proved the high quality of music in South Africa. The musicians are extremely professional; I only sent the backtracks to Charl and Lizelle two, maybe three days prior to the recordings. Charl manually wrote down the notes for him and Lizelle and sent it to her on that very same day. They could play it immediately. There isn't a single pianist or violist in the Netherlands that I know of who could pull that off."

"I wouldn't say I was shocked, but there were at least ten cameras pointed at me."

Amira inaugurated the foundation Gelukskinders (in 2014) by building playgrounds in Potchefstroom area for underprivileged children. So far, 13 playground have been built in Ikageng, Potchefstroom municipality. "I received an abundance of donations from fans all over the world on my 16th birthday, which we can use to finance three more playgrounds; turning 16 therefore will have granted those children a total of 16 playgrounds."

Precisely on the 27th of March, the RSA implemented a national lockdown, which was "very bad", however, it was still a nice birthday. "I could video call with my friends."

She admits that her life sometimes feels surreal.

"Sometimes it feels as though I'm living a double life, like a double spy would. At home it is so tranquil and relaxed and I enjoy spending time with my friends. I'm a normal school girl in a normal school. I play with my dogs and cats and I do athletics."

"The next moment I'm off to Pretoria to record a concert, standing in humongous ball gowns, make-up and a beautiful hair-do, but all of that merely makes life more interesting."

DREAM WITH ME can be streamed from September 11 9:00 AM to September 13 9:00 PM (Central African Time, GMT +1). It's still available for 72 hours after having purchased a ticket. A ticket costs R120 (approx. $7). Visit optog.co.za to reserve. It will also be part of Optog!'s electronic library.