Pumeza Matshikiza

South African soprano Pumeza Matshikiza has been among the most promising of a group of young Black singers to have emerged from the country's conservatories. She made her formal operatic debut at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden as a flower maiden in Wagner's Parsifal. She has performed several lead soprano roles, including Pamina in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte and Mimi in Puccini's La bohème; the latter role has emerged as a signature role. In 2013, Matshikiza recorded her debut album, Voice of Hope. The album, with a mix of operatic arias and African songs, appeared in 2014, and shortly after, Matshikiza performed at the opening of the Commonwealth Games to a television audience of around one billion people. Her second album, Arias, appeared in 2016. She returned to the recording studio in 2023 on the album A Celebration of Paul Reade.