Based: Cape Town
South Africa’s “Singing Surgeon” lives in Cape Town, where he practices full-time as a Cardiothoracic Surgeon. When he is not performing open heart surgery, he indulges himself in his love of music.
He has been studying singing informally with mezzo-soprano Violina Anguelov for the past few years and under her guidance he has developed a rich, strong and soaring tenor voice which enables him to perform classical as well as contemporary genres with effortless clarity.
He recently recorded a new arrangement of the Queen megahit song “Who Wants To Live Forever” with legendary guitarist Brian May himself, along with the Soweto Gospel Choir, to launch the Young Hearts Africa Foundation. This foundation is Lichtenberg’s brainchild and aims to raise awareness and collect funds for poor children requiring life-saving heart surgery in Southern Africa.
His debut album “Tale van my Hart”, released in 2019, features a collaboration with acclaimed singer and songwriter Stef Bos and was nominated for a South African Music Award as best classical album.
He is currently working on a second album, which is set to be released in July and it features collaborations with a number of local and international musical stars.
He realised his childhood dream when he played one of the principle roles in Cape Town’s Gilbert and Sullivan’s opera “Trial by Jury” in 2017, a role for which he was also awarded best newcomer that year.
During his student years he played the trumpet in the professional symphony orchestra of the Free State Arts Council, while studying Medicine at the University of the Free State. He moved to Cape Town in 1995, where he specialized as a heart surgeon at the Christiaan Barnard Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Groote Schuur Hospital and the Red Cross Children’s Hospital. In 2018, he also completed a postgraduate certificate in Medicolegal Practice at the Faculty of Law at the University of Cape Town.
When he is not performing open heart surgery, he loves spending quality time with his family, immersing himself in his love of wine and cooking (he has recently appeared on TV with Marinda Engelbrecht on her food program “Maklik met Marinda”) and sports. He is a keen hiker and an avid cyclist who has completed more than a dozen Argus Cycle Tours. He is also a passionate nature lover who has raised funds to combat rhino poaching though cycling.
