Soprano Noluvuyiso Mpofu, has made history in winning the John Christie Award for most promising young singer of the year which is named after the founder of the Glyndebourne Opera Festival.
Noluvuyiso is a UCT Opera school graduate and the first non-British artist to be awarded such an award.
“I couldn’t believe the news, then congratulations began pouring in and I shared the news with my family,” Mpofu explained, she received the news shortly after returning to South Africa after the 2019 Glyndebourne Opera Cup.
No one has ever acheived this kind of success, Mpofu admitted that the road to her present triumph has not been smooth.
“After I won second place in the International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition in 2016, I hoped for offers and went for auditions, but to no avail. I was told my voice was difficult to place as I can manage a variety of roles in the lyrical soprano register, and I think there was a preference for a more definite, limited range. I wondered, ‘what next?’ I had no clear direction at that time.”
She is now due to join The Glyndebourne Autumn Tour, singing the lead role of Gilda in Verdi’s Rigoletto.
“I have sung it before, which makes the vocal challenge of the part less demanding. I have more time to devote to interpreting the character. I’ve already met the director, Christiane Lutz, and she was very welcoming. I think she’ll be easy to work with. I was introduced to her by her husband, Jonas Kaufmann.”
Congratulations Noluvuyiso Mpofu.