Golda Schultz

Golda Schultz is recognised as one of today’s most talented and versatile sopranos, celebrated in equal measure for her vivid and intelligent portrayals of the leading ladies of the operatic canon, as a featured soloist with the world’s foremost orchestras and conductors and as a captivating solo recitalist.

The 2026/27 season for Golda Schultz brings further prestigious debuts and prime appearances including three significant role debuts, as Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos at Wiener Staatsoper under Franz Welser-Möst in a new production by Barrie Kosky, as Antonia in Les contes d’Hoffmann at Staatsoper Unter den Linden conducted by Keri-Lyn Wilson and as Elettra in Idomeneo at Glyndebourne Festival Opera under Robin Ticciati. On the concert stage this season there is a European tour of Strauss’ Vier letzte Lieder with the Cleveland Orchestra and Franz Welser-Möst and Mahler’s Symphony No.2 in debut appearances with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin under Susanna Mälkki. In celebration of the Beethoven anniversary year, there are performances of Missa Solemnis with Berliner Philharmoniker and Kirill Petrenko and with Cleveland Orchestra and Wiener Philharmoniker, both conducted by Franz Welser-Möst, and of Symphony No.9 with Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin under Delyana Lazarov and with the Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Marin Alsop.

Unanimously praised for her “warmth of tone and sensitivity of phrasing”, South African-born Schultz trained at the Juilliard School and Bayerische Staatsoper’s Opernstudio. She found early success on both sides of the Atlantic through 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. Subsequent opera roles that have paved the way to today’s flourishing career include Micaëla (Carmen) at Opéra National de Paris and Lyric Opera of Chicago, Liù (Turandot) at Wiener Staatsoper, Agathe (Der Freischütz) 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 (The Rake’s Progress) and Adina (L’elisir d’amore). Schultz made her role debut as Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) at Opernhaus Zürich going on to a runaway success in the role at Festival d’Aix-en-Provence under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle. Her appearance as Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte) conducted by Alexander Soddy marked her house debut at the Royal Ballet & Opera and her return to Zürich last season in her debut as Rosalinde (Die Fledermaus) under Lorenzo Viotti was met with the highest critical praise – “Rosalinde – the vocally magnificent and hilariously funny Golda Schultz” (Neue Zürcher Zeitung).

A popular guest with the world’s leading orchestras, recent highlights include Una poenitentium in Mahler’s Symphony No.8 with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra conducted by Klaus Mäkelä and released on the Decca label, and Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 with Gewandhausorchester and Andris Nelsons on the 200th anniversary of the premiere of the work. Since making her debut with the New York Philharmonic singing Strauss’ Brentano Lieder under Santtu-Matias Rouvali, she has returned for Mahler’s Symphony No.4 with Gianandrea Noseda and last season performed Knoxville: Summer of 1915 conducted by Kwamé Ryan. Schultz sang her first performances of Strauss’ Vier letzte Lieder with Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and Gustavo Dudamel and in 2020 starred in the 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 vast global audience.

Schultz has released two solo albums on the Alpha Classics label, This Be Her Verse, a collection of works by female composers from the Romantic era to the present day curated together with long-time collaborative pianist Jonathan Ware, and Mozart, You Drive Me Crazy! in collaboration with Antonello Manacorda and Kammerakademie Potsdam, winner of the coveted 2025 Opus Klassik Award for Solo Vocal Recording of the Year. Other recordings include Mendelssohn Elijah with Gewandhausorchester (Nelsons) on Deutsche Grammophon, Mozart Requiem with Orchestra of Teatro Regio Torino (Stefano Montanari) on Dynamic; and on DVD the Grammy Award-winning Porgy and Bess from and released by the Metropolitan Opera (David Robertson) and Le nozze di Figaro from Teatro alla Scala (Franz Welser-Möst) on Unitel.

In an acclaimed recital partnership, Schultz and Jonathan Ware have performed together at Berlin’s Pierre Boulez Saal, Wigmore Hall, Kölner Philharmonie, Concertgebouw, San Francisco’s Herbst Theater, St Paul’s “The Schubert Club” as well as at Edinburgh, Aix-en-Provence and Lucerne festivals. In the current season they appear together at Musikverein and at Beethoven-Haus Bonn.