Enya Gonzalez

Enya Gonzalez (February 26, 1915 – December 16, 1982) was an opera singer from the Philippines.

Early life Enya Gonzalez was from Baliuag, Bulacan, the daughter of Luis González and Pilar Garcia. Her father was a tenor singer. She studied at the Philippine Women's University. Her brother Edgardo González was executed as a guerrilla leader during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines.

Career Gonzalez made her New York debut in 1938, starring in Madama Butterfly with the San Carlo Opera Company, after Hizi Koyke. Later that year she toured giving concerts in the United States and Mexico, and was featured on the cover of Newsweek magazine with the tagline "Enya Gonzalez: A Cio-Cio-San from Manila". and toured in the United States and Canada during the 1940–1941 season. She sang at the Hollywood Bowl in 1941.

During World War II, Gonzalez continued singing in concerts, and joined the USO and toured American army bases in Latin America, Greenland, and Iceland to entertain the troops. In 1944, she sang "Ave Maria" at the Washington, D.C. funeral of Manuel L. Quezon. She sang the part of the last time in 1954.