Pumeza Matshikiza Soprano

Lyric soprano Pumeza Matshikiza was born in South Africa, and studied at the University of Cape Town College of Music under Professor Virginia Davids. A winner of many awards, Pumeza is also a graduate of the Royal College of Music, where she studied under Michel Vallat as the Peter Moores, Pidem and Derek Butler Trust Scholar. She was a member of the Jette Parker Young Artists’ Programme at the Royal Opera House for the 2007/8 and 2008/9 seasons, and in January 2010 won first prize in the Veronica Dunne International Singing Competition. She is an Associate Artist of the Classical Opera Company.

Student roles at the RCM included Marenka/The Bartered Bride, Pamina/Die Zauberflöte, Fiordiligi/Cosi fan tutte, Rosalinde/Die Fledermaus, Conçeption/L’heure Espagnol, Poppea/L’Incoronazione di Poppea and Contessa/Le Nozze di Figaro.

Pumeza Matshikiza has participated in master classes with artists such as Philip Langridge, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Sir Thomas Allen, Renata Scotto, Joan Rogers, Paul Farrington and Ileana Cotrubas.

Pumeza Matshikiza made her Royal Opera, Covent Garden debut as a Flowermaiden in Parsifal. Other roles with the Royal Opera have included Slave/Salome, Innocent/The Minotaur, Tebaldo/Don Carlos, Witch/Dido & Aeneas and Sandman/Hansel and Gretel. Her cover roles there have included Conçeption/L’heure Espagnol, Donna Elvira/Don Giovanni, Adina/L’elisir d’amore and Antonia/Les Contes d’Hoffman. Most recently, Pumeza appeared in the title-role of the new production of Zaide for the Classical Opera Company at Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London and on tour, in Elijah with the Nottingham Harmonic Society, and in recitals at the Wigmore Hall and in the Middle Temple Series “Julius Drake and Friends”.

Engagements in the 20010/11 season include her debut at the Wexford Festival as Vendulka in the new production of Smetana’s The Kiss, a recital at Graignamanagh in Ireland, and recitals with Julius Drake in Leicester, at the London Jewish Cultural Centre and at the Queille Festival, France, where she will also give a concert with the Badke String Quartet.