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Amira says: Hello!

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These days, almost everyone is affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. So is Amira and her family – South Africa is on a 21-day stay-at-home order (a lockdown). Amira would like to stay in touch with her fans, so she is sharing her home activities with them. But let’s turn it over to Amira herself…

This Is Me is a series of videos that will be published on Amira’s Official YouTube Channel within the next several days. Make sure to visit this space regularly not to miss a thing from your favourite artist and person 🙂

Episode 1

Episode 2

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Amira’s 16th Birthday

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On Friday March 27, Amira celebrated her Sweet Sixteen birthday.

Despite the lockdown of South Africa, Amira, together with Fincent and Frieda, made it a big Unicorn party. Her father, Gerrit, was with them throughout the day using modern technology. Amira was surrounded by a sea of ​​flowers, many balloons and numerous unicorn toys. Even the cake was in a unicorn style. She also enjoyed an online party with her friends.

Click here to view an interview with Amira by the Gelderland TV station.

And a photo report of the festivities:

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An update: Amira turns sixteen!

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Final update:

The total proceeds from the collection set up by the fans for the benefit of her Gelukskinders foundation is exactly, no lie, € 20,000. A gigantic amount. Thank you all donors!

All objectives have been achieved and Amira will get more than € 4000 with which she can make children of the townships even happier.

Third update: In these days when a virus is roaming the world, we wish you all not to be affected. South Africa is also not immune from it. All plans are suspended until further notice. Take enough Amira vitamins to help you get through it. The action: Where are we? Oh my … with one week to go. You are all fantastic. All planned projects can be realized. Can we do more? Do you want to complete the surplus of the promotion too? If that happens, the rest will go to Amira who can use it, within the limits of Gelukskinders, to make the children of the townships a little bit more happy. Next week the end result !!

Second update With two more weeks to go, this action has made a big boost. Project 1 COMPLETE. First part project 2 Complete. Project 3? Nearly there. You donators are awesome!! Below, the full content of the projects planned. Can you give Amira a huge Birthday present too? Thank you!

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Nijmegen and Dreumel Christmas Concerts

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Nijmegen, December 15th

The audience is spoilt during these concerts. Amira on top of her ability.

Together with the Nijmegen Men’s Choir, Amira showed that she was in her optima forma. Amira is able to take listeners to another universe. She also succeeded during that concert.
As a warm-up, Dormi Filli, La Vergine Degli Angeli, Pie Jesu… All beautifully interpreted. Then came Ave Maria by W. Gomez. Something I had been looking forward to. The melody line, however, was so strange in my ears that I did not fly here as I did in 2015. Of course, Enjoyment with the capital E, but still, it seemed that the piano player was playing something different than intended. Amira, two more times before the break. This time with Ave Maria by Caccini and The Holy City. Amira has such a huge voice, a promise for after the break. Well, that came! Gesu Bambino, immediately followed by Sancta Maria… If you ever want to get the feeling of being able to float above the ground, then these two songs were the pinnacle of perfection. Magistral! 
Angels from the Realms of Glory and Joy to the World followed and brought an end to a fantastic evening. The people present could hardly stop applauding. Amira was in the mood for an encore, so she announced it herself. Again, La Vergine Degli Angeli sounded through the Saint Steven’s Church. What an end to a fantastic evening.
Amira also posed for photos with many fans and had time for everyone who just wanted to say something. She wore two beautiful dresses that evening. The photos provided will show how elegantly she looked.
If this evening was a prelude to a television show registration a day later, well then there is still something to wait for. My goodness, what a voice, what a girl!

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3rd Fan Club Day and Gelukskinders 5th Anniversary Concert

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The 3rd Fan Club Day on November 30th, 2019

The Gelukskinders 5th anniversary celebration cannot do without a party. This also applied to the 3rd fan club day. Fans from 13 different countries were present, as well as VIPs who contributed to the development of Gelukskinders or to Amira’s development in the artistic field. It was one big party thanks to the efforts of three main artists were to turn “De Warande” upside down the following day.

The fan club day did not start as planned. Anne Keizer wanted to “warm up” her fingers on the piano. Those present became quiet… What a feeling she can convey with her sounds! 
After awarding the sponsor deal prizes, everyone went back into the room. Time to bring in the artists and their families. The Keizer, Acke and Willighagen families made their entrance with loud applause. Anne… even louder applause; Marjolein… ditto; Schilpaddie… also applause… Who did we miss? AMIRA, of course! The applause was so loud that people actually needed earplugs. The audience present were ready for it!

Anne kicked off. She played “Northern Lights, Aurora Borealis” insanely beautiful. With Anne at the piano, Marjolein sang “Halleluja” by Mozart, which is unparalleled when one also considers that it was the first time these two did it together. It testifies to the enormous talent of these two artists.
Finally, it was Amira’s turn. Anne made way for Mr. Willighagen. A sigh… if I still think about it. A good ten minutes of medleys from the Sound of Music musical. The applause that followed was corresponding! While Amira gave the best of the best, Fincent handed out small, self-made booklets containing short texts – the meaning of life for them.

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Prestigious prize for Amira

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On November 9, Amira received a great award at a gala in Naples, organized by the “International Organization for Diplomatic Relations”.

The title that goes with it is called: “International Mediterranean Best Female Opera Star 2019”.

Of course, Amira also sang there. “O Mio Babbino Caro” and “O Sole Mio” – a duet with an Italian tenor Fabio Armiliato.

A chic party of course completely Amira-worthy. The whole family was invited.

It’s nice that Mr. Willighagen also appeared in the pictures again.

The whole weekend the family was pampered and  the family always needed to sniff some culture.

A visit to Pompeii and the oldest opera house “San Carlo” and the Andy Warhole Museum.

Many photos have been taken. An impression:

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Amira in concert – October 2019

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Concert-wise, October has been a very busy month for Amira. Here are some highlights!

On October 23rd, Amira and Corlea Botha performed at the Nelson Mandela University South Campus Auditorium in Port Elizabeth. The concert was titled Two Sopranos in Concert and organised by The Music Society of Port Elizabeth. The two ladies were accompanied by the Nelson Mandela University Choir. 

An eyewitness report, as provided by Robert Zahn:
What an incredible evening! 
Tine and I attended the grand finale concert in the 2019 series of the ‘Music Society of Port Elizabeth’ at NMU. 
The impressive university choir introduced two sopranos, namely Amira Willighagen and Corlea Botha. 
Amira Willighagen,15, won ‘Holland’s Got Talent’ in 2013 at the age of 9. She has moved to South Africa and is absolutely sensational. What I really admire the most about this young lady is that she makes donations to the ‘Gelukskinders Foundation’, ensuring that playgrounds for the underprivileged are built in South Africa. Her voice was powerful and repertoire wide. The packed theatre was spell bound by the magical voice. 
Corlea Botha is well known and needs no introduction. Her involvement in ‘Classics is Groot’ will be known to most and she has so much CHUTZPAH, that she had us in tears of laughter between her powerful pieces.
Corlea had a cold and apologised for not always being able to hit the high notes. I would not even have noticed had she not informed us. 

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Christmas gift/sponsor deal, fanday Nov. 30th and concert Dec. 1st

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Important also for fanday and concert visitors. This comes after the Christmas gift part.

This year, the Christmas gift for Amira is the sponsor deal.
That item is listed separately in the Gelukskinders web shop: https://www.gelukskinders.org/shop/SPONSORDEAL-p149320449
This time no new playground, but a big boost for the maintenance fund. In the past five years, all maintenance has been done from the general income. However, the costs for this increase as the number of playgrounds grows, 12 new ones and one adopted now, so the general income is being spent more and more on maintenance. This is therefore at the expense of new playgrounds. The age of the playgrounds will also eventually count. All the equipment will eventually have to be replaced. The equipment is heavily used by the children. In order to be able to continue building new playgrounds, the realized playgrounds must be guaranteed to be maintained. It is essential that every playground is maintained by Gelukskinders. The schools cannot take that on themselves. They have no money for that.
The playgrounds bear Amira’s name, the foundation cannot afford to turn a blind eye to this very important work. Not now, not tomorrow and actually never. Accidents happen at playgrounds, that is the case everywhere and schools are insured against accidents like that. Scratches, bloody knees, bruises, up to, unfortunately, broken limbs – who hasn’t had that kind of experience as a child or as a parent? However, when a child is hurt as a result of negligent maintenance, it reflects directly on the foundation, including Amira. That must be prevented at all times.

Regular maintenance is of vital importance!

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