Soprano

With her magnetic charm, acclaimed operatic and solo performances worldwide, and a critically lauded discography, South African soprano Pretty Yende has quickly become one of the brightest stars of the classical music world.
Since 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, Vienna Staatsoper as well as many major concert venues.

This season, Pretty Yende returns to the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and Opera de Monte-Carlo for a special Gala series in dedication to Josephine Baker. She will wrap up 2025 with L’elisir d’Amore at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, a Gala concert at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, a Christmas Concert at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and a New Year’s Eve Concert in Staatskapelle Dresden. Pretty will set off the new calendar year with a return to the Royal Opera House to star in Richard Eyre’s La Traviata; she will return to the same title later in the season at the Opera de Paris. Later this season Ms. Yende will perform in Vienna’s Opera Ball and will make her LA Philharmonic debut with Maestro Gustavo Dudamel performing Missa Solemnis. Pretty will come back to Teatro di San Carlo in Naples to take part in Verdi’s Requiem, La Bohéme and to make her Liu role debut in Turandot. Vienna State Opera will welcome Ms. Yende back for L’elisir d’Amore and Don Pasquale. To follow up, Pretty will reprise Il Trovatore at the Opera de Monte-Carlo. Additionally, Ms. Yende will lead a series of Solo and Gala Concerts in Spain, Monaco, Germany, France, USA, Poland, The Netherlands, Austria and Croatia.

Last season, Pretty Yende returned to the Metropolitan Opera for Les Contes d’Hoffmann. She made her Puccini debut as Magda in La Rondine, at the Opera de Monte Carlo and reprised La Fille du Regiment at the Bayerische Staatsoper. At the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées Pretty made a title role debut in Handel’s Semele in a brand-new production and a title role debut in Handel’s Semele, which she reprised also at the Royal Opera House later in the season. Ms. Yende reprised Lucia di Lammermoor at the Semperoper Dresden and returned to Teatro di San Carlo with La Fille du Régiment. Pretty made another two role debuts last season, Lina in Verdi’s Stiffelio at the Dortmund Konzerthaus, and Leonora in Verdi’s Il Trovarote. On the concert stage Pretty appeared for Barber:Knoxville, Summer of 1915 with the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, a Gala Recital at the Vienna Opera and a Gala concert at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysée. On December 7th of 2024, Ms. Yende a historic music appearance singing Amazing Grace at the ceremonial reopening concert of Notre Dame in Paris.

In 2023/24 Pretty Yende returned to the Wiener Staatsoper to star in La Sonnambula. She came back to Paris Opera to appear as Olympia in Les Contes d’Hoffmann; at the Royal Opera House Pretty reprised in Verdi’s Rigoletto. 2024 started with La Traviata performances at the Staatsoper Berlin and a return to the Bayerische Staatsoper as Adina in L’elisir d’Amore. At the Franfurt Opera Pretty made her role debut in Handel’s Guilio Cesare in Egitto as Cleopatra in the new production directed by Nadja Loschky. Pretty ended last season with another role debut and a title role in Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda, at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples. Additionally, Ms. Yende made multiple recital and concert appearances, including Paris, Antwerp, Palermo, Dortmund, Abu-Dhabi, Tokyo, Madrid, Bordeaux, Saint-Denis.

In 2022/23 Pretty appeared at the Paris Opera to star in Romeo et Juliette and The Magic Flute. She made her San Francisco Opera house debut as Violetta Valerie in Verdi’s La Traviata in the new production by Shawna Lucey. Later on she returned to Wiener Staatsoper to star in the title role in Massenet’s Manon, and as Marie in La fille du regiment. Pretty reprised the role of Michaela in Carmen at the Staatsoper Berlin. At the Staatsoper Hamburg she made her role debut as Gilda in Verdi’s Rigoletto, and returned to all four heroines Olympia/Antonia/Giulietta/Stella in Offenbach’s Le Contes d’Hoffmann.
On the concert stage, Pretty Yende made her return with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Carnegie Hall and Kimmel Center performing Mahler's Symphony No. 4 under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin; she also made multiple recital appearances in the places like Kansas, Princeton, Geneva, Naples, Gstaad, Vienna, Festival Auvers-sur-Oise. Additionally, she made a guest apperance in Paris for the annual “Concert de Paris” to celebrate Bastille Day.
On May 6th of 2023, Ms. Yende performed at Kind Charles III Coronation at Wesminster Abbey. She became the first African solo artist to perform at the coronation of a British monarch. Pretty sang "Sacred Fire", a piece written by composer Sarah Class specifically for the occasion, followed by Handel: ‘Oh, had I Jubal’s lyre’ from Joshua and Handel: ‘Care selve’ from Atalanta.

In 2021/22 Ms. Yende returned to Wiener Staatsoper to star as her signature role of Violetta in Verdi’s La Traviata and as Elvira in Bellini’s I Puritani. She reprised Violetta at the Royal Opera House and performed 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 delivered a recital with pianist Michele D’Elia. Additionally, she made her debut as Olympia, Antonia, Giulietta, and Stella in Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann at Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía. On the concert stage, Pretty Yende made her debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra performing songs by Richard Strauss under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin. She joined a star-studded roster for Washington National Opera’s “Come Home: A Celebration of Return” concert, and she performed two concerts with the Parisian Frivolities, first at the Théâtre Impérial de Compiègne and then at Théâtre des Champs-Elysées. She performed selected arias with the Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic Orchestra in Czechia. At the Wiener Konzerthaus, she joined soprano Nadine Sierra for a concert with the Slowakische Philharmonie and conductor Riccardo Frizza.

In 2020/21 Ms. Yende made her successful house debut at the Wiener Staatsoper as Adina in L’elisir d’amore and later sang Violetta in Simon Stone’s acclaimed production of La Traviata. She reprised Violetta several times: at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Patrick Bannwart’s production; at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in David McVicar’s production; and at Teatro Massimo di Palermo, marking her much-anticipated house debut. Ms. Yende returned to the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées to star as Amina in Bellini’s La sonnambula, featuring a new production by Rolando Villazón.
Yende made her highly anticipated house debut at Teatro di San Carlo performing in a special Mozart and Bel canto Gala concert led by Giacomo Sagripanti. She also performed in the Metropolitan Opera’s “New Year’s Eve Gala Live in Concert,” streamed live from the Parktheater in Augsburg, Germany. Ms. Yende shared the stage with tenor Benjamin Bernheim for a recital with the Orchestre de chambre de Paris, led by Sascha Goetzel. Additionally, she returned to Paris for the annual “Concert de Paris” to celebrate Bastille Day.
In the 2019/20 season, Ms. Yende returned to Paris for two highly anticipated role debuts: Violetta in a new production of La Traviata by Simon Stone, and the title role in Manon, featuring a new production by Vincent Huguet. On the concert stage, Ms. Yende embarked on a solo recital tour, making stops at Oper Frankfurt, the Opernhaus Zürich, Smetana Hall in Prague, and 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 Regiment, and sang her first Leïla in Les Pêcheurs de Perles, receiving critical acclaim from the New York Times: “In the role of Leïla, suppressed erotic longing is sublimated into pure vocalism lavishly ornamented with arabesques and grace notes.” Shortly thereafter, she appeared at the Opéra national de Paris as Norina in Don Pasquale, portrayed her first Amina in La sonnambula at Opernhaus Zürich, and returned to the Bayerische Staatsoper to sing the title role of Lucia di Lammermoor and as Adina in L’elisir d’amore.
Her rise into the global stage includes highlights from her acclaimed Metropolitan Opera debut, stepping in as the Countess Adele in Le Comte Ory; her role and house debut as Marie in La fille du Régiment at the Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville; debuts at Opéra national de Paris as Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, the Gran Teatre del Liceu as Norina in Don Pasquale, with the Los Angeles Opera as Micaëla in Carmen, at Staatsoper Hamburg as Fiorilla in Il Turco in Italia, and her debut at the Theater an der Wien as Countess Adèle. Additional highlights include Rosina, Adina, the title role of 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 Deutsche Oper Berlin; Adina at the Staatsoper Berlin; Pamina at the Grand Théâtre de Genève; Elvira at Opernhaus Zürich; Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro at Los Angeles Opera; Countess Adèle and Musetta in La Bohème at Teatro alla Scala; her role debut as Teresa in Benvenuto Cellini in Paris; and Lucia di Lammermoor in concert at the Cape Town Opera.
Highlights on the concert stage include her Carnegie Hall recital debut with pianist Kamal Khan, with the New York Times acclaiming: “A gracefulness that can seem decidedly divine seems to radiate from Ms. Yende.” She later returned to Carnegie Hall to join the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra for a performance of Mozart’s Exsultate Jubilate and Mahler’s Symphony No. 4. Ms. Yende has presented concerts in Switzerland, Spain, Austria, Johannesburg, South Africa, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands and Prague.
In 2016, she released her debut album “A Journey” for Sony Classical which won several awards including 2017 International Opera Award – Best Recording (Solo Recital) as well as an Echo award for best newcomer at the Echo Klassik Awards 2017 as well as a first for an opera singer in her home country being awarded International Achiever Award at the South African Metro FM Awards. She appeared as the musical guest on several television shows including “The Late Show” with Steven Colbert, “The Wendy Williams Show,” and “Good Morning America.” She released her second solo album titled “Dreams” one year later on Sony Classical, which won her the Readers’ Choice Award at the 2018 International Opera Awards, with Opera Now raving: “South African Yende has a delicious instrument, with a youthful quiver of passion to it, and a wonderfully secure technique.”
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 top prize in every category, and went on to win First Prize in the Operalia Competition in 2011.
Other prestigious awards include an Award from the South African government ‘The Order of Ikhamanga in Silver’ for her excellent achievement and international acclaim in the field of world of opera and serving as a role model to aspiring young musicians and more recently being a recipient of the Italian Knighthood, ‘Ordine Stella d’Italia’, for her work in building extraordinary relations between Italy and other countries, making her the youngest South African ever awarded this accolade.