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). She began her vocal training at age five in her native Alberta and has since made emerging artist appearances across Canada, the United States, and Europe. 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. Sydney is the is the winner of the Edmonton Opera’s prestigious Rumbold Prize for the 23/24 season.

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 as the soprano soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, The Brott Music Festival & Orchestre Classique de Montréal for their respective performances of Handel’s Messiah, and Pacific Opera Victoria for her role & company debut as Contessa Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro. 

Sydney’s 2022/23 season comprised of successful role & company debuts, including her debut at London's 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 "unmistakably 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 engagements included debuts with the Aldeburgh Festival, where she premiered a recently discovered work by Benjamin Britten through her ongoing young artist partnership with Britten Pears Arts, the Rockport Chamber Music Festival, and her role debut as Mimì (La bohème) with ICAV & Orchestre Classique de Montréal. 

Named one of Canada’s top emerging musicians under 30 by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Sydney spent the 2021 summer season as a member of the renowned Apprentice Program for Singers at the Santa Fe Opera, where she covered Tatyana in Eugene Onegin and appeared as Antonia in an excerpt from Les Contes d’Hoffmann in the annual Apprentice Scenes Showcase. 2021 also saw Sydney star in the title role of Brott Opera’s digital, abridged production of Estacio's iconic Canadian opera, Filumena. She recently made her principal artist debut at Opera on the Avalon as Beatrice in Heggie's Three Decembers, followed by an appearance as the soprano soloist in Beethoven's 9th Symphony with the Brott Music Festival. 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. In the same season she joined the The Rebanks Fellowship Program at Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of Music, through which she made Toronto concert debuts at Koerner Hall, the Canadian Opera Company, the 21C Music Festival, and the National Ballet of Canada 

Additional operatic engagements include Marguerite (Faust), Calisto (La Calisto), Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), Lauretta (Gianni Schicchi), Malwina (Der Vampyr), and Johanna (Sweeney Todd). Sydney is an alumnus of prestigious opera training programs at the Aspen Music Festival, the Centre for Opera Studies in Italy, Brott Opera, the Banff Centre for the Performing Arts, and was an inaugural member of Manitoba Opera’s Digital Emerging Artist Program. Her love of chamber music has led her to perform compositions such as Shostakovich’s Seven Romances on Poetry by Blok (op. 127) for soprano & piano trio, Chausson’s Chanson Perpetuelle, and Ernst Toch’s rarely heard Die Chinesische Flöte.

Sydney is a Regional Finalist & three-time prize winner at the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. She holds degrees from Rice University and the University of Toronto, and she is immensely grateful for the support of the Alberta Government, the Sylva Gelber Music Foundation, the Art Song Foundation of Canada, and the Weston Family Foundation. 

January 2024

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