Among the invited artists at the coronation of Britain’s King Charles III was the South African soprano, Pretty Yende.
Coronations are not events that take place often. What made the moment special is not just singing for a new king, but the rareness of the occasion. After millions of global television viewers experienced her soaring high notes, stage presence, musicality and star quality, audiences were no doubt asking, “Who is she, where does she come from?”
Amakwaya During the reign of Queen Victoria, in the early to mid 1800s, a group of British settlers entered the port of what became known as Port Elizabeth in South Africa. As they gradually moved east, a small group of Scottish missionaries settled on the banks of the Tyhume River to establish what was eventually known as Lovedale College.
Black communities in South Africa have no formal music tuition. Forms of training are relational, through singing with the family at home, and communal singing at school and church. This too is a product of historical processes.After colonialism, the white-minority apartheid government provided a system of inferior education to black students who attended schools which did not have the resources to provide quality music education, a legacy that continued into post-apartheid South Africa.
It is again from the community music scene that Yende received opera assistance and coaching – from the likes of choral music champion and opera singer Nolufefe Mtshabe and leading choir competition organiser Mzwandile Matthews. Yende finally benefited from a formal music education when, thanks to her eisteddfod success, she was accepted into the University of Cape Town for a diploma in opera studies in 2003.
Her global career began with bel canto roles in the Italian opera style. Her scintillating voice led her to all the major opera houses around the globe. She has performed with great artists such as Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli and performed many leading roles. She has won national orders in her home county, Italy, France and elsewhere. She has shattered all imaginable glass ceilings. And this at only 38 years old.
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