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About
With her magnetic charm, critically and popularly acclaimed operatic and solo performances worldwide and a wildly successful debut album, South African soprano Pretty Yende has quickly become one of the brightest stars of the classical music world.
ince making her professional operatic debut at the Latvian National Theatre in Riga as Micaela in Carmen, she has been seen at nearly all of the major theaters of the world, including the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Opéra National de Paris, Metropolitan Opera, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Staatsoper Berlin, Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, Opernhaus Zürich and Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona. In the current season, Yende makes her role debut as Teresa in Benvenuto Cellini at the Opéra National de Paris, her role and house debut as Marie in La fille du régiment at the Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville, and her return to the Metropolitan Opera as Adina in L’Elisir d’Amore and the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor. She will also join the Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera at Carnegie Hall in a performance of Mozart’s Exsultate Jubilate and Mahler’s Symphony No. 4, and sing Lucia at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Adina in Wiesbaden, and concerts in Switzerland, Spain and Austria.
In the 2016/17 season, Yende had the rare honor of appearing in three starring roles at the Metropolitan Opera; Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Juliette in Roméo et Juliette and Elvira in I Puritani. She made her debut at the Bayerische Staatsoper as Adina in L’Elisir d’Amore and sang Adina at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor at the Opéra National de Paris. In addition, she released her debut album "A Journey" for Sony Classical and appeared as the musical guest on such shows as "The Late Show" with Steven Colbert, "The Wendy Williams Show," and "Good Morning America."
In the 2015/16 season, Yende made her acclaimed debut at the Opéra National de Paris as Rosina. Further engagements included Lucia at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Adina at the Staatsoper Berlin, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, Elvira at Opernhaus Zürich, as well as concerts in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Vienna and Pesaro. In the 2014/15 season, Yende debuted at the Gran Teatre del Liceu as Norina in Don Pasquale, sang her first performances of Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro with the Los Angeles Opera, and appeared as Pamina at the Metropolitan Opera, Lucia at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, and Rosina at Den Norske Opera in Oslo. She also appeared in concerts in Vienna, Munich, Amsterdam, and at Carnegie Hall. In the 2013/14 season, Yende made her Los Angeles Opera debut as Micaela in Carmen, made her Hamburg debut as Fiorilla in Il Turco in Italia, and returned to the Teatro alla Scala in Le Comte Ory.
In January of 2013, Pretty Yende made her critically and popularly acclaimed Metropolitan Opera debut, stepping in as the Countess Adèle in Le Comte Ory on short notice, opposite Juan Diego Flórez. Immediately afterwards, she made her Vienna debut at the Theater an der Wien in the same opera. Yende’s 2012/13 season also included the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor in concert at the Cape Town Opera and Musetta in La Bohème at La Scala.
A 2011 graduate of the Young Artists Accademia of the Teatro alla Scala, Yende made her debut with the company in 2010 as Berenice in Rossini's L'Occasione fa il Ladro. In 2010, she became the first artist in the history of the Belvedere competition to win first prize in every category and went on to win First Prize in Placido Domingo’s Operalia Competition in 2011.