Soprano Yolisa Ngwexana was born and raised in Cape Town, South Africa. She recently covered the role of ‘Clorinda’ in Rossini’s La Cenerentola with the English National Opera in London.
Yolisa is an Opera for Peace Emerging Artist, Pegasus Opera Mentee and recently graduated with Guildhall Artist Masters-performance (opera course), with Distinction, under the guidance of Professor Yvonne Kenny. Yolisa recently performed in France in a tour with Africa Lyric’s Opera where she sang in 5 different Opera houses. She is the winner of First, audience and Signature Foundation prize of the Africa Lyric’s Opera competition that took place in France, Paris. 2024. She was one of the 5 finalists in the Voices of Black Opera competition (VOBO) 2022, which took place Birmingham Town Hall, U.K in November.
Prior to her enrolling at NWU in 2019 to study music under Professor Conroy Cupido, she graduated from Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) with Diploma in Biotechnology in 2018.
In 2022 she covered the role of ‘Gilda’ with Opera North, in Leeds, U.K. and performed two shows of the role at Theatre Royal, Newcastle, U.K. She graduated with Diploma in music (with Distinction) in 2022 and received the NWU Prestigious award as a top achiever. She also performed Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater with Free State Symphony Orchestra at St Andrew and St Michaels Cathedral in Bloemfontein, South Africa. In May 2022 she was part of the Opera for Peace Academy, in Rome, Italy where she took part in Masterclasses with Baritone Thomas Hampson and Tenor Lawrence Brownlee.
Other roles she has sung include the role of ‘Alcina’ in Handel’s Alcina (Saluzzo Opera Academy) conducted by Dominic Wheeler; ‘Morgana’ in Handel’s Alcina (Guildhall School); ‘Damiana Cisneros’ in Stephen McNeff’s A Star Next to the Moon (world premiere) at the Guildhall school of music and drama, conducted by Dominic Wheeler; ‘Lauretta’ in Gianni Schicchi (Operatunity, South Africa); Scenes from Die Zauberflöte, Don Giovanni, Werther, Capriccio, The Rake’s progress, L’enfant et sortiléges (Guildhall School); Quicksilver in Lantern Fish (Guildhall Opera Makers 2023); La fata Azzurra (The blue fairy) in Ottorino Respighi’s La bella dormente nel bosco (Guildhall autumn double bill opera, 2023).
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