Reading on Notikumi.lv about the Aug. 9 festival “Satiksmies Piebalgā” in Vecpiebalga, this line jumped off the page: “Šogad mūzikas festivāla īpašais viesis būs pasaules slavenā dziedātāja Endija Rezgale no Dienvidāfrikas.” A world-famous singer from South Africa named Endija Rezgale? Gee, never heard of her. Or, rather, I had heard of her, but in a different context.

Rezgale—known as Endia in places like Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg and Pretoria—is somewhat famous in South Africa and perhaps folks remember her back in Kansas, too. At Wichita State University she was destined to be a stand-out cross country runner, until an injury slowed her down (she did make All-Conference in 2001).

Born in Salacgrīva, Latvia, Rezgale met her future husband (and so now she’s Endija Rezgale-Strydom) while at Wichita. He is from South Africa, which explains why she is living so far away from her homeland. In South Africa, her singing talent blossomed. A nice article about her appeared in a July 2006 edition of Republika.lv. If you read Afrikaans, here’s a 2006 article from Die Burger.

The soprano has had good reviews in the South African press, including one for her 2003 performance in the stage production “G String.” Rezgale released a solo album, titled Klasika on compact disc in 2006.

Rezgale has a spartan Web site, www.endia.co.za, but at least visitors can learn how to order her CD.