Pretty Yende

Pretty Yende, OIS (born 6 March 1985) is a South African operatic soprano. She has performed leading roles at opera houses internationally, including La Scala and the Metropolitan Opera.
Early life and education.
Born in Piet Retief, Mpumalanga, Yende was inspired to learn opera at age 16 after seeing a British Airways TV advertisement that featured the Flower Duet from "Lakmé". She subsequently enrolled at the South African College of Music, where her teachers included Virginia Davids, and from which she graduated "cum laude". She also graduated from the Accademia Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Italy. Her younger sister, Nombulelo Yende, is also an opera singer.
Yende won two prizes in the 2008 International Vocal Competition 's-Hertogenbosch: the Prize of the Province of North Brabant, and the Engagement Opera Riga, which gave her the opportunity to take part in the new year concert at the Latvian National Opera in December.
Yende won first prize in operetta and opera at the International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition 2009 in Vienna, and in 2010 the first prize at the Vincenzo Bellini International Competition and the Leyla Gencer Voice Competition. In 2011, she won first prize at Operalia, held that year in Moscow.
Career.
Yende performed Berenice in "L'occasione fa il ladro" (2010) and Elvira in "L'italiana in Algeri" (2011) as part of the Academy at La Scala, where she sang four roles next season: the Priestess ("Aida"), Barbarina ("The Marriage of Figaro"), Norina ("Don Pasquale"), Musetta ("La bohème").
She was featured in Andrea Bocelli's "Live in Central Park" concert on 15 September 2011, which was aired on PBS's "Great Performances" and physically released as "". They united in the concert entitled "Amore e perdono" held by the Fetzer Institute at the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi on 22 September 2012, which was aired on Rai 1 on 29 September 2012.
Yende made her Metropolitan Opera debut in New York City on 17 January 2013, in the role of Adèle in Rossini's "Le comte Ory", as a substitute for Nino Machaidze. She subsequently stepped in for Cecilia Bartoli in the same role at the Theater an der Wien. In July 2014, she returned to La Scala for "Le comte Ory", alternating Countess Adèle with Aleksandra Kurzak. Later in the year, she returned to New York for "The Magic Flute" (Pamina) at the Met, and between the performances she sang at the Richard Tucker Gala and made her Carnegie Hall debut in a solo recital. In 2015 she portrayed Susanna in Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro" at the Los Angeles Opera. In 2016 she portrayed Rosina in "The Barber of Seville" and the title role in "Lucia di Lammermoor" at the Paris Opera.
Yende is credited as a primary artist for the "Ode À L'Humanité" (Ode to Humanity, previously called Aria) track on the Yanni/Plácido Domingo collaboration "Inspirato" (2014).
In 2018, she portrayed Adina in Bartlett Sher's production of "L'elisir d'amore" at the Metropolitan Opera, which ran through January and February.
Awards and honours.
Yende was awarded Siola d'oro in 2011.
She won an Arca d'oro Italia Young Talents Award in 2012, and performed a recital in Turin on 30 March 2013 owing to the award.
She was conferred the Silver Order of Ikhamanga on 27 April 2013. In a statement by the chairperson of the National Orders Advisory Council, Dr. Cassius Lubisi, Yende was conferred the honour "for her excellent achievement and international acclaim in the field of world opera and serving as a role model to aspiring young musicians."
She was one of the winners of the 2013 Women of the Year Awards by "Glamour" South Africa.
In September 2013 she received an Mbokodo Award in the category of opera.
Yende won the Best Recording Solo Recital Award for her album "A Journey" in the 2017 International Opera Awards, and was awarded the International Achiever Award in the 2017 South African Music Awards. She won a Readers' Award in the 2018 International Opera Awards, and the Cologne Opera Award ("Kölner Opernpreis"), received during the city's Floraball.
In 2019, she was invested a Knight of the Order of the Star of Italy.
Discography.
Yende signed a long-term recording contract with Sony Classical in October 2015. Her first recording under this Sony contract was "A Journey".