Sonya Yoncheva

Sonya Yoncheva (Bulgarian: Соня Йончева, born 25 December 1981) is a Bulgarian operatic soprano.

Born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, Yoncheva did not have a conventional childhood. Since the age of 6, she was already "working", according to her own words from an interview for Metropolis. She studied piano and voice at the National School for Music and Dance in Plovdiv. During her teenage years, she hosted a Bulgarian television show about music. She won several music competitions in Bulgaria in 2000 and 2001, including a joint win with her brother as "Singers of the Year 2000" in the "Hit-1" competition organised and produced by Bulgarian National Television.

In 2009, she obtained her master's degree in classical singing from the Conservatoire de Musique de Genève, where her teachers included the opera singer Danielle Borst.

Yoncheva was an invited participant in William Christie's "Jardin des Voix" academy for young singers in 2007. She has continued work in the baroque repertoire with Christie, and also with Le Concert d'Astrée and Emmanuelle Haïm. Yoncheva was the female first-place winner of the 2010 Operalia competition. Her debut at the Metropolitan Opera was in November 2013 when she stepped in as Gilda in Rigoletto, in advance of her previously scheduled official debut. In 2014 at the Met, she sang her stage role debut as Mimì (La bohème) in November and shared the role of Violetta (La traviata) in December. In 2015 she appeared as Desdemona in Otello and in September 2016 she made her debut as Norma at the Royal Opera House. She will debut in the title role of Puccini's "Tosca" in concert with the Philadelphia Orchestra for their 2017/18 season.

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