Biography
In January 2022 South African Soprano Ané joined the Cape Town Opera Soloist team. During her time as soloist she sang Handel’s Messiah with the Cape Town Philharmonic orchestra, understudied th Countess in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro and made her debut as the title role in Handel’s Alcina.
During 2022 Ané also participated in the Trentino Music Festival singing Nerone in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea. At the end of the year she made her debut with the Berlin Mattiacis Ensemble, as Sicle and L’Armonia in Cavalli’s L’Ormindo, and toured with the production to Rabat, Morocco.
Ané Pretorius graduated from the University of Cape Town in 2015 after completing BMus Opera under the guidance of Prof. Virginia Davids and Kamal Khan. She also completed her Master’s degree in performance and dissertation in 2017 as well as a Postgraduate Diploma in Opera in 2019.
During her studies at the University she performed major roles in various operas such as Angelina (Cenerentola) in La Cenerentola, 2nd Lady in Die Zauberflöte, Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro, Sesto in La Clemenza di Tito, Flora in La Traviata, Receptionist in a premiering South African Opera – The Application and La Speranza in Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo.
During the 2020 lockdown, Ané participated in various socially distanced projects- a virtual lunch time concert in collaboration with Artscape Theatre and Jeremy Silver, a virtual educational program on SASCE repertoire (Sing like a pro), and a staged production of Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater in collaboration with Camerata Tinta Barocca that was aired on DSTV KykNet in October 2020. During October 2020, Ané also made her debut in the role of Dorabella from Mozart’s Così fan tutte and in March 2021 made her debut as Hänsel in Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel. In November 2021 she made her Soprano debut as both Musetta and Lisette in Puccini’s La Bohème and La Rondine at the Artscape Theatre.
Ané was a semi-finalist in the International Hans Gabor Belvedere singing competition, the National Unisa Voice Competition and received 2nd prize in the UCT Shock Competition
In 2018 she was invited to participate in the Vienna Summer Music Festival and received masterclasses from the world renowned mezzo soprano Joyce DiDonato at Carnegie Hall.
In 2018 Ané made her debut as Adalgisa in Bellini’s Norma and in August that year joined the Young Artist Program of Cape Town Opera. She toured to South Korea, Germany and London with the company and made her debut in Bellini’s i Capuleti e i Montecchi as Romeo. She also performed in the Helsinki Strauss New Years Concert in 2019 & 2020.
Photography: Joyce West