In 2008, NorrlandsOperan and Cape Town Opera commissioned the opera Poet & Prophetess, launching a partnership to produce the work in both Sweden and South Africa. Supported by the Swedish Arts Council, the South African National Arts Council, and Sida, this government-backed collaboration paired Swedish composer Mats Larsson Gothe with librettist Michael Williams. By combining European orchestral music with the vocal power of the Cape Town Opera Chorus, the project promoted new models for international operatic collaboration. In 2016, African Prophetess, a one-act concert version, was performed at the Konserthuset in Stockholm.

Critics highlighted the visceral energy of the staging and the performers, in which movement and dance drive the narrative. The work climaxes with the slaughter of a prized bull, providing opportunities for a strong dance element accompanied by an explosive orchestral score. The taut one-act, 100 minutes long, maintains a focus on Jula, the titular prophetess, offering a significant opportunity for a dramatic soprano. The piece is chorus-heavy, delivering powerful vocal moments that increase the intensity of the final tragic denouement.

Mats Larsson Gothe’s score for the African Prophetess is characterized by a high-intensity fusion of Neoclassical structures and a rigorous, driving pulse. Rooted in the Stravinsky tradition, the orchestration uses complex, undulating rhythms and a broad palette of  instrumental colour to support the narrative’s tragic arc. Critics have noted the score’s visceral power, describing it as 'rhythmical and dramatic'. The vocal writing is demanding, particularly for the dramatic soprano, whose lines are integrated into a dense, chorus-heavy texture. The inclusion of South African opera singers creates a sonic landscape where European symphonic gravity meets rich, resonant choral traditions. The result is a taut, explosive score that balances modernism with lyricism.