“Sydney’s growing career as a professional operatic soprano has seen her perform on stages across North America and in Europe, but her artistry remains deeply rooted in the training and support she received in Alberta. She is ‘a star on the rise’ with a tremendous command of her craft. Her performances are dramatic and dynamic and centre the emotional core of music and character.”
— 2026 Emerging Artist Jury
– Emerging Artist adjudicators
At the age of five, living on a farm near Seven Persons, Alberta, Sydney Baedke stumbled on Mozart’s The Magic Flute in a box of old VHS tapes. The music unlocked her dream to become an opera singer – now being realized across opera stages nationally and internationally. She has gained music degrees from Houston’s Rice University and the University of Toronto, completed residencies with the Glenn Gould School and the UK’s Britten Pears Young Artist Program, and performed with London’s Royal Opera & Ballet, Santa Fe Opera, Pacific Opera Victoria, the Hamilton Philharmonic, Brott Opera and others.
On Alberta stages Sydney has appeared with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra as the soprano soloist in Bruckner’s Te Deum, Ma Zegner in Mazzoli’s Proving Up with Calgary’s Ammolite Opera, and won first-prize in Edmonton Opera’s Rumbold Vocal Prize Competition. In 2027 she returns to Edmonton Opera to perform Pamina in Die Zauberflöte.
Other performance highlights include Liù in Turandot at Montreal’s Maison Symphonique with Orchestre Philharmonique et Choeur des Mélomanes; Contessa Almaviva for Opera Kelowna’s Le Nozze di Figaro (2026/27); soloist in Rachmaninoff’s The Bells with OPCM; and Giulietta in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, with the Aspen Music Festival and Santa Fe Opera respectively. She is a 2025/2026 Bursary Award Winner from the prestigious International Opera Awards Foundation and has been noted as one of Canada’s top emerging musicians under 30 by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
In our work I was struck by Sydney’s notable versatility, always guided by an informed musical sensitivity. Her skillset ranges from gentle and graceful singing to great power and dramatics, and she pays close attention to character, language, and the development of musical ideas. Even in our brief time spent working together her voice continues to develop, suggesting a growing range of repertoire possibilities.
Stefano De Laurenzi
Head Coach, Theatre für Niedersachsen, Germany
