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Pretty Yende, soprano
One of the brightest stars of the opera world
Sunday • September 27, 2026 • 2:00 pm
Main Auditorium
Born in in the small town of Piet Retief, South African soprano Pretty Yende has risen to the top of the opera world with unparalleled speed. With her magnetic charm, acclaimed operatic and solo performances worldwide, and a critically lauded discography, 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.
Notably, Yende performed during the coronation of King Charles III at Westminster Abbey in 2023. She became the first African solo artist to perform at the coronation of a British monarch. She sang “Sacred Fire,” a piece written by composer Sarah Class specifically for the occasion, followed by Handel’s “Oh, had I Jubal’s lyre” from Joshua and “Care selve” from Atalanta.
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In the 2025–26 season, Yende returned to the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and Opéra de Monte-Carlo for a special Gala series in dedication to Josephine Baker. She closed 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. In 2026, she returns to the Royal Opera House to star in Richard Eyre’s La Traviata, and follows up with the same title later in the season at the Opera de Paris. Yende also performs in Vienna’s Opera Ball and will make her LA Philharmonic debut with Maestro Gustavo Dudamel performing Missa Solemnis. She 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 welcomes her back for L’elisir d’Amore and Don Pasquale. Yende will also reprise Il Trovatore at the Opera de Monte-Carlo. Additionally, she will lead a series of solo and gala concerts in Spain, Monaco, Germany, France, USA, Poland, the Netherlands, Austria and Croatia.
Yende’s debut album, A Journey, for Sony Classical (2016) won several awards, including a 2017 International Opera Award for Best Recording (Solo Recital) as well as the Best Newcomer Award at the 2017 Echo Klassik Awards. A first for an opera singer in her home country, she was awarded an International Achiever Award at the South African Metro FM Awards. She has 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, Dreams, in 2017 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. She has been the recipient of other prestigious awards including: The Order of Ikhamanga in Silver from the South African government for her excellent achievement and international acclaim in the field of opera and serving as a role model to aspiring young musicians; and the Ordine Stella d’Italia, Italian knighthood, for her work in building extraordinary relations between Italy and other countries—making her the youngest South African ever awarded this accolade.
In 2022, Yende was honored with an Order of Arts and Letters in France, which is given to “people who have distinguished themselves by their creation in the artistic or literary fields, or by the contribution they have made to the influence of the arts and letters in France and around the world.”
