Adelia Douw

Adelia was born in a small township called Delft and started singing before she could talk. Her musical journey started as a 3 year old in Elsies River where she used to entertain her family and friends singing ‘old school jams’. She became one of the youngest members of the church choir participating in every school concert, church play and community activities.  Adelia wanted to share her love and passion for singing and music with the world. 

At the age of 16 she was introduced to a programme started by Cape Outdoors Adventure, Sport and Training (COAST) and  the Department of Social Development in her community, called THE DELFT BIG BAND which was under the musical direction of the legendary Ian Smith, trumpeter, singer, and music educator. This was when her dreams became a reality. Ever since then she has travelled the world with the band, visiting Sweden on two occasions to perform for Queen Sylvia of Sweden at the World’s Children’s Prize for the rights of a child after which Adelia made her debut at the Cape Town International Jazz Festival in the 2010, as one of the youngest vocalists to perform, in the process winning a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music in Boston, USA to attend their summer programme. Upon her return from the US she went on a tour with the DELFT BIG BAND to France, performing on world renowned stages. Back in South Africa while at college she landed the lead role of EVITA in her college production of EVITA, graduating with Merit in Performing Arts.

Adelia, as the songstress of the Delft Big Band, is a regular at corporate gigs and large scale events where she has performed in front of huge crowds and honed her skills as a professional vocalist. In addition to performing with the very busy Delft Big Band, she performs with the likes of Ian Smith and Andrew Ford and other jazz legends, as part of smaller quartets and trios on the jazz scene.

Nothing brings her greater pleasure than getting up on stage and performing. She noted that the more she interacts with sound, the more her vocal skills improves and that brings her great joy. She is the winner of the Open Mic competition in 2015, as the most promising young jazz singer in the Western Cape.

She recently toured the Mediterranean, Asia and the Caribbean with German Cruise Company Tui Cruises and also performed at the Klosters Music Festival in Switzerland with the band virtual jazz reality as the first Jazz band to ever perform on the classical festival.