BIOGRAPHY
‘Brilliant vocal control’
Carmen, La Tragédie de Carmen, Landestheater Linz, Kronen Zeitung
Mezzo-soprano Sophie Kidwell is the most recent winner of the Young Welsh Singer of the Year competition. Praised in the German, Austrian and Swiss press for her “velvety smooth and elegant voice” with an "impressive usable range" and "sonorous lower register", Sophie has been described as "a name that opera fans should remember".
Sophie has been a member of OperAvenir at Theater Basel since 2023, where she most recently (in April 2025) jumped in for the title role of Carmen (Carmen, Bizet) with the Basler Sinfonieorchester. She has gained great experience at Theater Basel, including her first Ring Cycle as Flosshilde (Das Rheingold, Wagner), Grimgerde (Die Walküre, Wagner), Flosshilde (Götterdämmerung, Wagner), as well as the roles of Maddalena (Rigoletto, Verdi), Frédéric (Mignon, Thomas), Alto Soloist (Requiem, Mozart), Flora (La Traviata, Verdi), Lucinda (Into the Woods, Sondheim), and Die Försterin (Das schlaue Füchslein, Janáček).
In January 2025 Sophie made her house debut at Stadttheater Bühnen Bern in a jump-in as Pauline (La Vie Parisienne, Offenbach). She looks forward to singing with the Berner Sinfonieorchester again in 2026 as the Mezzo soloist in Dvorák’s Stabat Mater.
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.
Her 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 in the 22/23 season, 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 Oxford, 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 in prestigious venues such as The Royal Festival Hall and The Royal Albert Hall. Her repertoire includes Bach Cantatas BWV 109 and 161, Bach Christmas Oratorio, Beethoven Choral Fantasy, Duruflé Requiem, Dvorák Stabat Mater, Handel Messiah, Haydn Stabat Mater and Nelson Mass, Mozart Requiem.
Sophie graduated from Durham University with a BA Hons in Combined Honours in Arts (Music, English Literature and German). She was a Samling Academy Scholar, where she worked with leaders of the Royal Opera House and was encouraged to pursue a career professionally. She then moved to Germany and completed a BMus in Singing, followed by an MMus in Opera at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover with Prof. Marina Sandel. 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, who she continues to be mentored by.
Sophie’s studies were generously supported by the Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung and the Deutschlandstipendium. She was also a scholarship holder for the Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now e.V. program, through which she regularly performed for people in care homes, hospitals, prisons and hospices.
Sophie has worked with conductors such as Markus Poschner, Ivor Bolton CBE, Jonathan Nott, Steven Devine, Olga Pavlu, Ulrich Maier and Francesc Prat. Directors include Romeo Castellucci, Benedikt von Peter, Vincent Huguet, Nina Brazier, Solvejg Bauer and Gregor Horres.
She has performed in masterclasses with many esteemed artists, including Anne Sofie von Otter, Brigitte Fassbaender, Hedwig Fassbaender, Simon Keenlyside CBE, Catherine Wyn Rogers, Dame Emma Kirkby, David Butt Philip, Roderick Williams OBE, Sir Thomas Allen and Thomas Hampson.
Sophie is forever indebted to her teachers over the years: Dominic Barberi, Stephanie Bodsworth, Ruxandra Donose, Marina Sandel and Janet Williams.
‘Effortless.’ ‘One was amazed at the flexible voice of this young singer.’
Das Opernmagazin, 2023