Since her professional opera debut at the Latvian National Theatre in Riga as Micaela in *Carmen*, she has appeared at almost all the world’s major opera houses, including the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the Opéra National de Paris, the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala in Milan, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Staatsoper Berlin, the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, the Zurich Opera House and the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, as well as the Vienna State Opera and in many major concert halls.

This season, Pretty Yende returns to the Metropolitan Opera for *Les Contes d’Hoffmann*. She will then make her Puccini debut as Magda in *La Rondine* at the Opéra de Monte Carlo, before rounding off 2024 with *Le Fille du Régiment* at the Bavarian State Opera, where she will also be making her house debut. The new year begins for Pretty at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées with a brand-new production and her debut in the title role of Handel’s “Semele” – a role she will also bring to the Royal Opera House later in the season. At the Teatro Real, Pretty continues her season with another role debut: as Ismene in Mozart’s “Mitrida, re di Ponto”. Ms Yende will reprise the role of Lucia di Lammermoor at the Semperoper Dresden and return to the Teatro di San Carlo with “La Fille du Régiment”. Two further role debuts await Ms Yende this season: Lina in Verdi’s “Stiffelio” at the Dortmund Konzerthaus and Leonora in Verdi’s “Il Trovatore”. On the concert stage, performances are planned of Pretty in “Barber: Knoxville, Summer of 1915” with the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, a gala recital at the Vienna State Opera, a joint concert with Nadine Sierra at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, and a gala concert at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. On 7 December 2024, Ms Yende will perform the song “Amazing Grace” at the ceremonial reopening concert of Notre-Dame in Paris.

Last season, Pretty Yende returned to the Vienna State Opera to sing the title role in *La Sonnambula*. She returned to the Opéra de Paris to appear as Olympia in *Les Contes d’Hoffmann*; at the Royal Opera House, Pretty once again sang the title role in Verdi’s *Rigoletto*. The year 2024 began with performances of “La Traviata” at the Berlin State Opera and a return to the Bavarian State Opera as Adina in “L’elisir d’Amore”. At Frankfurt Opera, Pretty made her role debut in Handel’s “Giulio Cesare in Egitto” as Cleopatra in the new production directed by Nadja Loschky. Pretty concluded last season with another role debut and the title role in Donizetti’s “Maria Stuarda” at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples. In addition, Ms Yende gave numerous recitals and concerts, including in Paris, Antwerp, Palermo, Dortmund, Abu Dhabi, Tokyo, Madrid, Bordeaux and Saint-Denis.

A voice that reaches up to the stars …

THE WASHINGTON POST During the 2022/23 season, Pretty appeared at the Paris Opera in the leading roles of *Romeo et Juliette* and *The Magic Flute*. She made her debut at the San Francisco Opera as Violetta Valerie in Verdi’s *La Traviata* in Shawna Lucey’s new production. She later returned to the Vienna State Opera to sing the title role in Massenet’s “Manon” and the role of Marie in “La fille du régiment”. Pretty reprised the role of Michaela in “Carmen” at the Berlin State Opera. At the Hamburg State Opera, she made her role debut as Gilda in Verdi’s “Rigoletto” and reprised all four heroines – Olympia, Antonia, Giulietta and Stella – in Offenbach’s “Les Contes d’Hoffmann”. On the concert stage, Pretty Yende made her comeback with the Philadelphia Orchestra at Carnegie Hall and the Kimmel Centre, where she performed Mahler’s 4th Symphony under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin; she also gave numerous recitals in venues such as Kansas, Princeton, Geneva, Naples, Gstaad, Vienna and at the Auvers-sur-Oise Festival. She also appeared in Paris as a guest at the annual “Concert de Paris” to celebrate Bastille Day. On 6 May 2023, Ms Yende sang at the coronation of King Charles III at Westminster Abbey. She was the first African soloist to perform at the coronation of a British monarch. Pretty sang ‘Sacred Fire’, a piece written especially for the occasion by composer Sarah Class, followed by Handel’s ‘Oh, had I Jubal’s lyre’ from ‘Joshua’ and Handel’s ‘Care selve’ from ‘Atalanta’.

During the 2021/22 season, Ms Yende returned to the Vienna State Opera to perform her signature roles as Violetta in Verdi’s *La Traviata* and as Elvira in Bellini’s *I Puritani*. At the Royal Opera House, she once again sang the role of Violetta and took on the role of Norina in Donizetti’s “Don Pasquale”. At the Teatro di San Carlo, Ms Yende sang Violetta in Ferzan Özpetek’s production and gave a recital with pianist Michele D’Elia. She also made her debut as Olympia, Antonia, Giulietta and Stella in Offenbach’s “Les Contes d’Hoffmann” at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía. Pretty Yende made her concert debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra, where she sang songs by Richard Strauss under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin.She was part of a star-studded ensemble at the Washington National Opera’s concert “Come Home: A Celebration of Return” and gave two concerts with the Parisian Frivolities, first at the Théâtre Impérial de Compiègne and then at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées. She sang selected arias with the Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic Orchestra in the Czech Republic. At the Vienna Konzerthaus, she performed alongside soprano Nadine Sierra in a concert with the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Riccardo Frizza.

During the 2021/22 season, Pretty returned to the Vienna State Opera to take on the lead roles in Verdi’s *La Traviata* and Bellini’s *I Puritani*. At the Royal Opera House, she once again sang the role of Violetta and took on the role of Norina in Donizetti’s *Don Pasquale*.At the Teatro di San Carlo, Ms Yende sang the role of Violetta in Ferzan Özpetek’s production and gave a recital accompanied by pianist Michele D’Elia. She also made her debut as Olympia, Antonia, Giulietta and Stella in Offenbach’s *Les Contes d’Hoffmann* at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía. On the concert stage, Pretty Yende made her debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra, where she sang songs by Richard Strauss under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin. She performed as part of the star-studded concert “Come Home: A Celebration of Return” organised by the Washington National Opera and gave two concerts with the Parisian ensemble “Frivolities”, first at the Théâtre Impérial de Compiègne and subsequently at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées. She later sang selected arias at a recital in the Czech Republic.

During the 2020/21 season, Ms Yende made her successful debut at the Vienna State Opera as Adina in *L’elisir d’amore* and later sang the role of Violetta in Simon Stone’s acclaimed production of *La Traviata*. She has sung the role of Violetta on several occasions: at the Bavarian State Opera in Patrick Bannwart’s production, at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in David McVicar’s production, and at the Teatro Massimo di Palermo, where she made her eagerly awaited debut. Ms Yende returned to the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées to take on the role of Amina in Bellini’s “La sonnambula” in a new production by Rolando Villazón.

Yende made her eagerly awaited debut at the Teatro di San Carlo as part of a special Mozart and bel canto gala concert conducted by Giacomo Sagripanti. She also performed at the Metropolitan Opera’s ‘New Year’s Eve Gala Live in Concert’, which was broadcast live from the Parktheater in Augsburg. Yende shared the stage with tenor Benjamin Bernheim for a recital with the Orchestre de chambre de Paris, conducted by Sascha Goetzel. She also returned to Paris to celebrate Bastille Day at the annual “Concert de Paris”.

During the 2019/20 season, Ms Yende returned to Paris for two eagerly awaited role debuts: as Violetta in a new production of *La Traviata* directed by Simon Stone, and in the title role of *Manon* in a new production by Vincent Huguet. On the concert stage, Ms Yende embarked on a solo concert tour with stops at Oper Frankfurt, the Zurich Opera House, the Smetana Hall in Prague, the Barbican in London and Carnegie Hall in New York.

Ms Yende began the 2018/19 season with her return to Barcelona as Elvira in *I Puritani*. She returned to the Metropolitan Opera as Marie in “La fille du régiment” and sang her first Leïla in “Les Pêcheurs de perles”, for which she was highly praised by the New York Times: “In the role of Leïla, repressed erotic longing is sublimated into pure song, richly adorned with arabesques and ornamentation.” Shortly afterwards, she appeared at the Opéra national de Paris as Norina in “Don Pasquale”, made her debut as Amina in “La sonnambula” at Zurich Opera House, and returned to the Bavarian State Opera to sing the title role in “Lucia di Lammermoor” as well as Adina in “L’elisir d’amore”.

Highlights of her rise to the international stage include her acclaimed debut at the Metropolitan Opera, where she stepped in as Countess Adèle in *Le Comte Ory*, and her role and house debut as Marie in *La fille du régiment* at the Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville; debut performances at the Opéra national de Paris as Rosina in “Il Barbiere di Siviglia”, at the Gran Teatre del Liceu as Norina in “Don Pasquale”, at the Los Angeles Opera as Micaëla in “Carmen”, at the Hamburg State Opera as Fiorilla in “Il Turco in Italia”, and her debut at the Theater an der Wien as Countess Adèle. Further highlights include Rosina, Adina, the title role in “Lucia di Lammermoor”, Juliette in “Roméo et Juliette”, Elvira in “I Puritani”, Pamina in “Die Zauberflöte” at the Met; Adina at the Royal Opera House; Lucia at the Opéra national de Paris and the Deutsche Oper Berlin; Adina at the Staatsoper Berlin; Pamina at the Grand Théâtre de Genève; Elvira at the Zurich Opera House; Susanna in “Le nozze di Figaro” at the Los Angeles Opera; Countess Adèle and Musetta in “La Bohème” at La Scala; her role debut as Teresa in “Benvenuto Cellini” in Paris; and Lucia di Lammermoor in a concert version at the Cape Town Opera.

Among the highlights of her concert career is her debut at Carnegie Hall with the pianist Kamal Khan, which was praised by *The New York Times* in the following words: “A grace that seems almost divine appears to radiate from Ms Yende.” She later returned to Carnegie Hall to perform Mozart’s “Exsultate Jubilate” and Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. Ms Yende has given concerts in Switzerland, Spain, Austria, Johannesburg (South Africa), Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Prague.

In 2016, she released her debut album, *A Journey*, on Sony Classical and appeared as a musical guest on several television programmes, including *The Late Show* with Stephen Colbert, *The Wendy Williams Show* and *Good Morning America*. A year later, she released her second solo album, entitled “Dreams”, on Sony Classical, which Opera Now raved about: “The South African Yende possesses a delightful voice imbued with youthful passion, as well as wonderfully assured technique.”

Yende, who graduated from the Teatro alla Scala’s Young Artists Accademia in 2011, 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 in 2011 she won first prize at the Operalia Competition.

Other prestigious honours include an award from the South African government, the “Ikhamanga Order in Silver”, for her outstanding achievements and international recognition in the field of opera, as well as for serving as a role model for aspiring young musicians, and, more recently, the Italian Order of the Star of Italy for her efforts in fostering exceptional relations between Italy and other countries, making her the youngest South African ever to receive this honour. In 2022, Ms Yende was honoured with the “Order of Arts and Letters in France”, which is awarded to “individuals who have distinguished themselves through their work in the artistic or literary fields or through their contribution to the influence of the arts and literature in France and worldwide”.

Pretty Yende will be performing as a soloist at the concert on 31 July 2026