With her magnetic charm, critically and popularly acclaimed operatic and solo performances, and a wildly successful debut album, South African soprano Pretty 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 as Micaëla in Carmen, she has performed at many of the world’s major theaters, including the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; Opéra national de Paris; Metropolitan Opera; Teatro alla Scala; Deutsche Oper Berlin; Staatsoper Berlin; Bayerische Staatsoper; Opernhaus Zürich; and Gran Teatre del Liceu.

This season, she returns to Paris for two role debuts: Violetta in La traviata and the title role in Manon. She also appears for the first time at the Dallas Opera as Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia. On the concert stage, Ms. Yende performs with the Würth Philharmonic Orchestra, appears at the Barbican Centre and Carnegie Hall, and makes further concert appearances in Frankfurt, Zurich, Prague, Liège, Paris, Bratislava, and Grafenegg.

Ms. Yende began the 2018–2019 season with a return to Barcelona as Elvira in I puritani. She appeared at the Metropolitan Opera for her debut as Leïla in Les pêcheurs de perles and as Marie in La fille du régiment. Shortly thereafter, she appeared at the Opéra national de Paris as Norina in Don Pasquale, sang her first Amina in La sonnambula at Opernhaus Zürich, and returned to the Bayerische Staatsoper in the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor and as Adina in L’elisir d’amore. In the 2017–2018 season, Ms. Yende made her role debut as Teresa in Benvenuto Cellini in Paris, her role and house debut as Marie in La fille du régiment at the Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville, returned to the Metropolitan Opera as Adina and Lucia, and sang Lucia at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. She also joined the The MET Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in a performance of Mozart’s Exsultate, jubilate and Mahler’s Symphony No. 4, and gave concerts in Switzerland, Spain, and Austria.

An accomplished chamber musician, soloist, and accompanist, James Baillieu’s artistic partnerships include Lawrence Power, Mark Padmore, Sir Thomas Allen, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Pumeza Matshikiza, Pretty Yende, and the Heath Quartet. He has performed at venues that include Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Konzerthaus Berlin, Vienna Musikverein, The Bridgewater Hall, and National Concert Hall in Dublin. He has appeared at the Bergen, Spitalfields, Aldeburgh, Cheltenham, Bath, St. Magnus, Norfolk & Norwich, Edinburgh, Brighton, Verbier, and Aix-en-Provence festivals. As a soloist, he has appeared with the Ulster Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, and Vienna Chamber Symphony.

Mr. Baillieu has presented his own series at Wigmore Hall with Adam Walker, Jonathan McGovern, Ailish Tynan, Henk Neven, Iestyn Davies, and Allan Clayton, among others. This series was shortlisted for the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Chamber Music and Song Award in 2016. He appeared with Benjamin Appl and Peter Moore as part of the ECHO Rising Stars series. He has recently collaborated with Markus Werba, Jamie Barton, Tara Erraught, and Lise Davidsen.

Born in South Africa, Mr. Baillieu studied in Cape Town and London. He was a Borletti-Buitoni Trust fellow and awardee of the Young Classical Artists Trust, and has been shortlisted for the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Young Artist Award. He is an international tutor in piano accompaniment at the Royal Northern College of Music and head of the song program at the Atelier Lyrique of the Verbier Festival Academy.