SYDNEY BAEDKE

Noted as a "rising star to watch" by Opera Canada, soprano Sydney Baedke has been described as possessing a voice of "exquisite lyricism"  (The Guardian) and "impressive richness" (London Unattached). At once praised for her “shimmering coloratura” (Opera News) and her vocal “roundness & warmth” (Le Devoir), she is making a name for herself as an artist of versatility in a wide breadth of repertoire. 

 

The 2023/24 season sees Sydney perform with organizations including the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra as the soprano soloist in Bruckner’s Te Deum, Orchestre Philharmonique et Choeur des Mélomanes for her return to Maison Symphonique in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Carnegie Hall, The Rockport Chamber Music Festival, and Pacific Opera Victoria for her role & company debut as Contessa Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro. She is also this season's winner of Edmonton Opera’s prestigious Rumbold Vocal Prize.

 

Sydney's 2022/23 season comprised of successful role & company debuts, including her debut at London' Royal Opera House in Oliver Mears' critically acclaimed production of The Rape of Lucretia co-produced with Britten Pears Arts, for which she was praised for her "passionate & hauntingly sad" and "unmistakeably moving" portrayal of the Female Chorus (Plays to See, Opera Today), as well as her debut as Musetta in La bohème with Orchestre Philharmonique et Choeur des Mélomanes at Montreal’s Maison Symphonique, for which she was hailed as a “revelation” for her “agile & seductive voice, projected with notorious assurance, strength, & efficiency”. (Le Devoir, Atuvu.ca) Additional recent engagements include the Aldeburgh Festival, where she was honored to premiere a recently discovered work by Benjamin Britten through her ongoing young artist partnership with Britten Pears Arts, the Rockport Chamber Music Festival, Mimì (La bohème, ICAV), and Orchestre Classique de Montréal for Handel's Messiah.

 

Named one of Canada’s top emerging musicians under 30 by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Sydney was a 2021 Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Artist, covering Tatyana in Eugene Onegin and appearing as Antonia in an excerpt from Les Contes d’Hoffmann in the annual Apprentice Scenes Showcase. Canadian debuts include Beatrice in Heggie's Three Decembers at Opera on the Avalon and starring in the title role of Brott Opera’s digital, abridged 2021 production of Estacio's iconic Canadian opera, Filumena. She made her professional debut in 2019 as La Fortuna & Valletto in Tim Albery’s critically acclaimed production of Monteverdi’s The Coronation of Poppea at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, where she also covered Gilda in Rigoletto as a member of the Gerdine Young Artist Program.

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Sydney is a Regional Finalist & three-time prize winner at the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and was a 2019/20 member of the Royal Conservatory of Music's Rebanks Family Fellowship Program. She is on the roster of Dean Artists Management.