Acclaimed South African opera singer Pretty Yende will perform at the coronation of King Charles III in May.
Buckingham Palace shared details for the ceremony of King Charles, as well as Camilla, to take place at Westminster Abbey on Saturday, 6 May.
Pretty Yende, who was recently awarded a Ceremonial Badge of Honour for her contribution to the arts and letters in France and worldwide, is one of the performers personally selected by the King, who is hoping to showcase talent from across the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth.
Pretty Yende was born in Piet Retief, Mpumalanga on 6 March 1985.
She was inspired to study opera aged 16, when she saw a British Airways TV advert that featured The Flower Duet from Leo Délibes‘ opera, Lakmé.
In 2012, Pretty sang the role of Musetta in Puccini’s La Bohème at La Scala in Milan. She made her Metropolitan Opera debut in New York in 2013, in the role of Adèle in Rossini’s Le Comte Ory.
In 2015, Yende played Susanna in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro with the Los Angeles Opera, and in 2016 she starred in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville as Rosina.
Pretty Yende’s international career as an opera singer has been stellar.