Based: Johannesburg
Corlea was born on 16 August 1987 and grew up in Delmas/Springs.
Her talent was discovered at the age of three.She started vocal training and keyboard lessons at the tender age of five. Over the next seven years she competed in over fourty Eisteddfods and National Singing Competitions, walking away as winner in most.
In 1996 she made her Theater Debut at the Pretoria States Theater in an Italian Opera “La Boheme” and in “Sound of Music” as the youngest Von Trapp daughter, Gretl. Performing with great talents such as Mimi Coertse, Jarmilla Tellinger, Judy Page and Anne Power, Corlea stole the hearts of many. In the same year she walks away a winner as the youngest competetor in her age group 5-8 years in the National Competition “Reik Na Die Sterre”.
In 1997 she released her first demo CD “Corlea – My First”, leaving listeners breathless with her rendition of power songs such as “Think Twice”, originally performed by Celine Dion.
In 1998, Corlea was chosen to be part of “FANTASY OF LIGHTS” at the Fountains’ Valley in Pretoria. She performed with selected participants from ‘Reach for the Stars’, and put on a critically acclaimed show.
“FANTASY OF LIGHTS” was such a success that in 1999 it was moved to the Nasrec Expo Centre to accommodate bigger audiences. They performed two shows a day, seven days a week for six weeks! We now had an on-stage singing sensation!!
In 1999, the family moved to Springs and they enrolled Corlea at the Jan van Riebeeck Primary School. In 2000, she was chosen as deputy head girl and the school decided that after almost 15 years of no talent shows it would be wasted opportunity not to do a revue, with Corlea as the star. They wrote a wonderful show of a journey through time – from when the earth was created, up to the final countdown of the millennium – with Corlea as the singing time traveller. The revue was such a success that it was extended for a week, and audiences still talk about “the show of the decade, that could make professionals sit up and take notice!”
In 2000 Corlea took part in the “REACH FOR THE STARS NATIONAL SINGING AND INSTRUMENTAL COMPETITION”, where there were more than 7500 other entrants. She did not only win the JAZZ / R’nB and LANGUAGE categories, but walked away as the overall winner with her rendition of Sam Harris’ SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW. She was only twelve at that time.
In that same year, she was invited to be an ambassador for South Africa on a cultural outreach to Japan by the non-profit organization Earth Harmony. She went on to be invited back by the Japanese organizers of Earth Harmony for the next two years.
Corlea also released her album, “WONDERKIND VAN DIE MILLENIUM” (Wonder Child of the Millenium), with record company, FANTASIA.
In 2001 Corlea was named as the ”Voices of the New Generation” who took their places on stage with South African greats such as Miriam Makeba, Dolly Rathebe, Thandi Claasen, Abigail Kubeka and Mara Louw at the SURF MIRIAM MAKEBA TRIBUTE TO DOLLY RATHEBE Concerts.
