Named a “rising star to watch” by Opera Canada, Alberta born soprano Sydney Baedke makes her Pacific Opera Victoria company and role debut with Contessa Almaviva. Recent engagements include her Royal Opera House debut in The Rape of Lucretia (co-produced with Britten Pears Arts), for which she was praised for her “unmistakably moving” portrayal of the Female Chorus (Opera Today), role debuts as both Mimì and Musetta in La bohème, and concert engagements with the Rockport Chamber Music & Aldeburgh Festivals. Other projects in her season include appearances with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra in Bruckner’s Te Deum, her return to Montreal’s Maison Symphonique as the soprano soloist in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with Orchestre Philharmonique et Chœur des Mélomanes, and her Carnegie Hall debut. She recently won first prize in Edmonton Opera’s Rumbold Vocal Prize Competition and is a three-time prize winner at the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition
Selected among the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s Top Musicians Under 30, Sydney’s emerging artist engagements include apprenticeships with the Santa Fe Opera (Tatyana cover, Eugene Onegin), Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (Gilda cover, Rigoletto & La Fortuna/Valletto, The Coronation of Poppea), the Britten Pears Young Artist Program, the Aspen Music Festival, and the Royal Conservatory of Music Rebanks Family Fellowship. Canadian appearances include Beatrice in Heggie’s Three Decembers with Opera on the Avalon and starring in Brott Opera’s 2021 production of Estacio’s iconic Canadian opera, Filumena. Additional repertoire includes Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), Marguerite (Faust), and Antonia (Les Contes d’Hoffmann).