Siphokazi Molteno
A 2023 alumna of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, South African mezzo-soprano Siphokazi Molteno made her mainstage Met debut in the 2022–23 season as Flora in La traviata, followed by Soeur Mathilde in Diálogos de los Carmelitas. Siphokazi debuted as Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Opera Saratoga in summer 2022, and on the concert stage she was heard as soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Camerata Notturna, Haydn’s Theresienmesse and Mozart’s Sparrow Mass with the New Choral Society, Haydn’s Missa Sancti Nicolai and Mozart’s Misa de Coronación with St. George’s Cathedral Cape Town, and Verdi’s Requiem with Dar Choral Society in Tanzania. Upcoming, she makes her European debut with Copenhagen’s Royal Danish Opera in Don Giovanni’s Inferno, a new opera by Simon Steen Andersen. Future engagements include debuts with the Dallas Opera and Teatro Regio di Torino.
During her tenure as a member of the Young Artist Program at Cape Town Opera, Siphokazi performed roles including Romeo in I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Dorabella in Così fan tutte, and Third Lady in La Flauta Mágica. She was twice the recipient of the Fleur Du Cap Theatre Award for “Best Performance in an Opera” (Female Division) for her performances as Dorabella (2022) and Romeo (2020). Additionally, she was honored with the Rising Star Encouragement Award in the 2020 Glyndebourne Opera Cup, and received both the Ana María Martínez Encouragement Award and the Audience Choice Award at Houston Grand Opera’s Eleanor McCollum Competition in 2017.