Lyric tenor July Zuma was born in Durban, South Africa. He received his diploma as an opera singer in Cape Town in 2005, where he studied with the head of the University's Opera Department, Prof. Angelo Gobbato. July Zuma then continued his postgraduate studies at the "Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu" in Barcelona with Prof. Eduardo Grimenéz.
He made his debut with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen in 2014 at the “Ein Sommer in Lesmona” festival. In 2011 he was awarded the prize at the singing competition of the Schloss Rheinsberg Chamber Opera. In the summer of 2017, he sang the role of Pedrillo from Mozart's "Abduction from the Seraglio" with the Graubünden Chamber Philharmonic at the Schlossoper Haldenstein under the direction of Anthony Pilavachi (Director) and Philippe Bach (Musical Director).
He also sang the role of "Young Man" in the world premiere of the Chamber Opera "Romeo's Passion" in Johannesburg (South Africa, 2018) directed by Robert Lehmeier.
Other engagements include the role of "Tony" in Bernstein's "West Side Story" performed by Unit Art Solution in Barcelona in September 2019 and also in July 2019 he was a soloist at the "Festival of Polish Music" in Kraków. He made his debut in the role of Ferrando in Mozart's "Cosi Fan Tutte" in an England and Wales tour with the British Swansea City Opera in the spring of 2019. He also sang the role of Count Almaviva in Rossini's "The Barber of Seville" in the production of the “Opera Vox Cultural Association” in Uster, Switzerland.
Recently, tenor July Zuma sang the role of Florville in Rossini's Il Signor Bruschino and the tenor role in Beethoven's 9th Symphony at the Schloss-Kirchstetten Festival with Virtuosi Brunenses and the Czech Orchestra in Austria (2021).
July Zuma has taken part in numerous singing master classes, including in 2012 with Montserrat Caballé in Saragoza, Spain. The tenor is one of the main actors in the documentary
"Cape of Good Voices" by award-winning director Ralf Pleger. The film was broadcast across Europe by TV channel Arte.
Recently been reinvited to Bielefeld Theater for another World Premier "At Your Doorstep" and took on the role of "Brother" in this Modern Opera, directed by Robert Lehmeier, Music by two composers, Marc Vogler and Matthew Macfarlane in 2023. He made his debut at the Theater Bielefeld in a new composition "The Visitor" by Andrei Petrache and Sebastian Molina, on the title role Der Fremde in the production "Der Besucher" in the 2022/23 season.
“I adore art... when I am alone with my notes, my heart pounds and the tears stream from my eyes, and my emotion and my joys are too much to bear“. - “Giuseppe Verdi