Golda Schultz

Soprano

South African soprano Golda Schultz is internationally hailed as one of today’s most talented and versatile artists, as at home in leading operatic roles as she is a featured soloist with the world’s foremost orchestras and conductors.

Unanimously praised for her “warmth of tone and sensitivity of phrasing”, Schultz trained at the Juilliard School and Bayerische Staatsoper’s Opernstudio and found immediate success on both sides of the Atlantic through early operatic appearances as Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier) at Salzburger Festspiele, Contessa Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro) at Glyndebourne Festival Opera and Pamina (Die Zauberflöte) at Metropolitan Opera and Wiener Staatsoper.

Opera highlights of the 2024/25 season include Anne Trulove in Olivier Py’s staging of The Rake’s Progress at Opéra National de Paris and Contessa Almaviva at Bayerische Staatsoper, both conducted by Susanne Mälkki, Agathe (Der Freischütz) at Semperoper Dresden conducted by Georg Fritzsch and Pamina at the Metropolitan Opera under Evan Rogister. Concerts include a return to the BBC Proms for Fauré’s Requiem with BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Stéphane Denève, Strauss’ Vier letzte Lieder with Tonhalle Orchester Zürich conducted by Paavo Järvi, Ravel’s Shéhérazade with Orchestre de Paris under Stanislav Kochanovsky, a tour of Der Freischütz with Kammerakademie Potsdam and Antonello Manacorda and Mahler’s Symphony No.8 with Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under the baton of Klaus Mäkelä. Recital appearances include at the Fundació Victoria de los Angeles and at Temporada de Musica I Danse d’Andorra la Vella in collaboration with Gary Matthewman as well as at the Gstaad New Year Festival in partnership with Jonathan Ware.

Key opera successes have included Micaëla (Carmen) at Opéra National de Paris and Lyric Opera of Chicago, Contessa and Liù (Turandot) at Wiener Staatsoper, Agathe at Bayerische Staatsoper, Vitellia (La clemenza di Tito) at Salzburger Festspiele, Clara in Jake Heggie’s It’s A Wonderful Life at San Francisco Opera and Madame Lidoine in Barrie Kosky’s acclaimed staging of Dialogues des Carmélites at Glyndebourne Festival Opera.

As a regular presence on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera, appearances include Clara (Porgy and Bess), Nanetta (Falstaff), Sophie, Anne Trulove and Adina (L’elisir d’amore). Last season saw role debuts as Juliette (Roméo et Juliette) at Dallas Opera and as Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) at Opernhaus Zürich and house debuts at Royal Opera House, Covent Garden as Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte) conducted by Alexander Soddy and, marking her farewell performances as Sophie, at Staatsoper Unter den Linden under the baton of Joana Mallwitz.

Highly in demand for the concert stage, recent appearances include Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 with Gewandhausorchester and Andris Nelsons to commemorate the 200^th anniversary of the premiere of the work, Mahler’s Symphony No.4 with New York Philharmonic under Gianandrea Noseda, Haydn’s Die Jahreszeiten with Tonkünstler Orchester conducted by Ivor Bolton and Luonnotar with Boston Symphony Orchestra under Nelsons. Schultz sang her first performances of Strauss’ Vier letzte Lieder with Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and Gustavo Dudamel, made her debut with New York Philharmonic Orchestra in his Brentano Lieder under Santtu-Matias Rouvali, sang Mozart’s Requiem with Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, appeared at Salzburg Festival in Schubert’s Mass No.6 under Franz Welser-Möst and performed Luonnotar with Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra at the 2024 Lahti Sibelius Festival conducted by Dalia Stasevska. In 2020, Golda Schultz starred in BBC’s Last Night of the Proms, together with Dalia Stasevska and BBC Symphony Orchestra, with their specially curated programme broadcast live on radio and television to a global audience of millions.

Golda Schultz’s debut solo album, This Be Her Verse, is released on the Alpha Label and explores the worlds and inspirations of female composers from the Romantic era to present day, including a new commission from Kathleen Tagg and Lila Palmer and curated together with long-time collaborative pianist Jonathan Ware. In her second and current release Mozart, You Drive Me Crazy!, Schultz examines the complexities of the female experience in the three da Ponte operas in collaboration with Antonello Manacorda and Kammerakademie Potsdam.

An acclaimed recital partnership, Golda Schultz and Jonathan Ware have performed together at Berlin’s Pierre Boulez Saal, Wigmore Hall, Kölner Philharmonie, San Francisco’s Herbst Theater, St Paul’s “The Schubert Club”, Princeton University as well as at Edinburgh, Aix-en-Provence and Lucerne festivals.