BIOGRAPHY
‘Brilliant vocal control’
Carmen, La Tragédie de Carmen, Landestheater Linz, Kronen Zeitung
British mezzo-soprano Sophie Kidwell is a member of OperAvenir at Theater Basel from the 2023/24 season, where her roles include Flosshilde (Das Rheingold, Wagner), Grimgerde (Die Walküre, Wagner), Maddalena (Rigoletto, Verdi), Frédéric (Mignon, Thomas) and Alto Soloist (Requiem, Mozart).
Following her critically acclaimed debut in the role of Carmen at Schlossfestspiele Ettlingen in 2022, Sophie was engaged to sing the title role again at Landestheater Linz in the Austrian premiere of La Tragédie de Carmen with the Bruckner Orchestra. Praised in the German and Austrian press for her “impeccable voice” with an "impressive usable range" and "sonorous lower register", Sophie has been described as "a name that opera fans should remember".
Sophie's further operatic roles include: Mago (Rinaldo, Handel), Wanda (Wanda Walfisch, Wenzel), Plantina (Melusina, Kreutzer), Treszka (Ein Herbstmanöver, Kálmán), Lehrbube (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Wagner) for Landestheater Linz, Hänsel (Hänsel und Gretel, Humperdinck) for ABPU Linz, Blumenmädchen (Parsifal, Wagner) for The Richard Wagner Association, Cherubino (Le Nozze di Figaro, Mozart), Ottone (L’incoronazione di Poppea, Monteverdi) for Berlin Opernfest, Marcellina (Le Nozze di Figaro, Mozart), Erster Herr (Juliette, Martinů) for HMTM-Hannover, Dorina (La Diavolessa, Galuppi) for New Chamber Opera, Ganymed (Die Schöne Galathée, von Suppé) for the Puchheimer Taschenoper, Orlofsky (Die Fledermaus, Strauss), Aunt Norris (Mansfield Park, Dove), Orfeo (Orfeo ed Euridice, Gluck), and Proserpina (Orfeo, Monteverdi). Sophie also has extensive international concert experience, including Bach Cantatas BWV 109 and 161, Bach Christmas Oratorio, Beethoven Choral Fantasy, Duruflé Requiem, Handel Messiah, Haydn Stabat Mater and Nelson Mass, Mozart Requiem.
Before moving to Germany, Sophie graduated from Durham University with a BA Hons in Combined Honours in Arts (Music, English Literature and German). She completed a BMus in Singing at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover with Prof. Marina Sandel before beginning the Masters in Opera there in 2021. Whilst engaged at Landestheater Linz for the 2022-23 season, Sophie continued her Masters through the ERASMUS programme at the Anton Bruckner University where she was in the class of renowned mezzo-soprano, Prof. Ruxandra Donose.
Sophie is a scholarship holder for the Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now e.V. program, through which she regularly performs with pianist Yewon Shin for people in care homes, hospitals, prisons and hospices. Her studies have also been kindly supported by the Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung, the Deutschlandstipendium, the Joyce Mostert Memorial Scholarship, and the Claire Castle Memorial Scholarship as part of Berlin Opera Academy.
Sophie has been a soloist at The Royal Festival Hall and The Sage Gateshead. She was a Samling Academy Scholar, where she worked with leaders of the Royal Opera House. She has performed in masterclasses with many esteemed artists, including Brigitte Fassbaender, Hedwig Fassbaender, Catherine Wyn Rogers, Dame Emma Kirkby, David Butt Philip, Markus Poschner, Roderick Williams, Sir Thomas Allen and Thomas Hampson.
Sophie is forever indebted to her teachers over the years: Dominic Barberi, Stephanie Bodsworth, Christina Bock, Ruxandra Donose, Marina Sandel and Janet Williams.
‘Effortless.’ ‘One was amazed at the flexible voice of this young singer.’
Das Opernmagazin, 2023