South African soprano Pretty Yende has been booked for the performance of a lifetime, as she is set to perform at the coronation of King Charles III on 6th May. The world will be watching as the ceremony takes place at Westminster Abbey in London, with a 2,000-strong congregation comprising royalty and global leaders.
Yende is one of three soloists invited to perform at the coronation, and it is believed she will be the first African soloist to do so. Her journey to this historic moment began in the small rural town of eMkhondo, formerly known as Piet Retief, in Mpumulanga, South Africa. Growing up with a religious upbringing, Yende’s connection to music came from singing church hymns.
Who is Pretty Yende?
Initially planning to study accountancy at university, Yende’s exposure to opera on television at 16 years old changed her life’s direction. With her family’s support, she went on to study music at the University of Cape Town, eventually graduating from the Young Artists program at the Accademia at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Italy, in 2011.
Yende’s international career took off after her debut at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York in 2013. Since then, she has performed in major opera houses in Milan, Paris, and London, interpreting roles in operas such as Puccini’s “La Bohème,” Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro,” and Rossini’s “Le comte Ory.”
King Charles III, a patron of over a dozen musical organizations, has previously enjoyed Yende’s performance at the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra’s 75th anniversary gala in April 2022. For the coronation, Yende will perform “Sacred Fire,” a new work by classical and film composer Sarah Class, which Buckingham Palace has said “evokes a bridge between the angelic and human realms.”
Yende’s invitation to perform at the coronation is a historic and generational honour, marking another milestone in her already impressive career.
Image Credit: Instagram/Pretty Yende
