Marieke de Koker

Marieke de Koker is a South African singer, composer, social innovator and activist currently based in New York City. She is known for a wide range of artistic work spanning opera, musical theatre, composition, film and dance. Recent artistic achievements include joining the 2024 cohort of eco-arts ambassadors with Artichoke Dance Company, winning the Best Music Video award at the SOI Cedolins International Opera Competition in Italy, performing a radio debut at WQXR in New York, and winning the International Opera Awards Foundation bursary in 2023. Marieke has performed several world premieres in New York and beyond. Her compositions and recital programs often explore themes of social and environmental justice and works by Pan-African composers.

Marieke is currently the volunteer Publishing Team Lead at the Àkójọpọ̀ Music Foundation. In 2022 she won the Alsop Entrepreneurship Award for her concept to launch a nonprofit e-commerce marketplace for Pan-African art music. She is also known for founding the Pan-African Opera Singers, Classical & Choral Facebook group which has connected and united opera companies and vocal groups across the continent of Africa and the diaspora.

In 2021 Marieke made her South African radio debut with RSG radio, Brooklyn Theatre TV and Gauteng Philharmonic Orchestra. She was interviewed on the ETV morning show about her work as an Emerging Artist at the Windybrow Arts Center. Her 2021 song cycle Never Again, based on poetry by Valentine Kizito, won the DePaul Concerto Competition and was featured on the Lieder Laboratory podcast.

Born in Pretoria, South Africa, Marieke grew up singing in local choirs and studying opera with Mrs Lorraine Havemann. At age 16 she received a scholarship to study Motion Picture Arts at the Interlochen Arts Academy high school in Michigan, USA. She received her B.M. Vocal Performance degree from DePaul University in Chicago and M.M. in Vocal Performance and Impact Entrepreneurship from The New School in New York City.