Superstar soprano Sonya Yoncheva has been heralded as one of the most acclaimed and exciting performers of her generation. The recipient of the 2021 Opus Klassik as Singer of the Year is an acclaimed fixture on the most important stages of the world, including the Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House, Teatro alla Scala, Bayerische Staatsoper, Berlin State Opera, Wiener Staatsoper, and the Opéra de Paris.
Sonya’s thrilling 2023/24 season includes the title roles of Tosca with the Rome Opera in Tokyo and Yokohama, at the Berlin State Opera and at the Royal Opera House London; of Madama Butterfly at the Berlin State Opera and the Bavarian State Opera; of Norma at the Bavarian State Opera and of Adriana Lecouvreur (role debut) at the Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona. On the concert platform, Sonya appears in solo concerts and recitals at the Berlin and Hamburg State Opera, at the Bunka Kaikan Tokyo, the Teatro Colón Buenos Aires, the Auditorio Nacional del Sodre Montevideo, the Bulgaria Hall of Sofia as well as in Liverpool and Salzburg.
Career highlights include new productions of Tosca, Fedora, Don Carlos and Otello at the Metropolitan Opera, where she also performed the title roles of Norma, Luisa Miller, La traviata and Iolanta; Fedora and Il pirata (new stagings), Andrea Chénier, La bohème (Mimì) and the 2020/21 season inauguration gala at Teatro alla Scala; the title part of Norma (new production) and of La traviata at the Royal Opera House; L’incoronazione di Poppea (new production) at the Salzburg Festival; new stagings of Médée and La traviata at the Staatsoper Berlin; and of Don Carlos, La bohème and Iolanta at the Paris Opéra; Il pirata at the Teatro Real di Madrid; Madama Butterfly and Tosca at the Wiener Staatsoper; Tosca and La traviata at the Bayerische Staatsoper and in Zurich, Manon Lescaut at the Hamburg State Opera, Norma at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Il pirata and Siberia at the Teatro Real Madrid as well as Tosca and La traviata at the Arena di Verona.
After studying piano and voice in her hometown Plovdiv with Nelly Koitcheva, Sonya Yoncheva obtained her master’s degree in voice in Geneva, studying with Danielle Borst.
Sonya is an alumna of William Christie’s Le Jardin des Voix and the winner of Operalia (2010). She was honored as Singer of the Year 2021 at the prestigious Opus Klassik awards, as Newcomer of the Year at the 2015 ECHO Klassik Awards as well as with the 2019 Readers’ Award of The International Opera Awards.
Sonya Yoncheva records exclusively for Sony Classical, where her albums Paris, mon amour, Handel, The Verdi Album and Rebirth have been published. Still remaining an exclusive Sony Classical recording artist, Sonya Yoncheva released her new solo album The Courtesan on her own label SY11 Productions. Her first book Fifteen Mirrors was also released by SY11. With SY11, Sonya has established the concert series “Inmost Voices” in Sofia.
Sonya Yoncheva is a global Rolex Ambassador, a UNICEF Ambassador in Bulgaria and holds the title Doctor Honoris Causa from the Plovdic Academy of Music and Arts.