Manitoba Opera has unveiled the four faces of its very first Digital Emerging Artists Program (DEAP), a four-week online intensive that kicked off August 4. Soprano Sydney Baedke (Medicine Hat, AB), mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Hoyt-Surdhar (Edmonton, AB), tenor Kaden Forsberg (Edmonton, AB), and baritone Nicholas Borg (London, ON) were selected out of 48 applicants by Manitoba Opera’s core faculty: Tracy Dahl, John Tessier, Marion Newman, Monica Huisman, and General Director & CEO Larry Desrochers.
The DEAP models the traditional operatic young artists program, offering an all-digital curriculum of voice lessons, masterclass, language and diction coachings, life skills, and most pointedly, career advice.
“Being selected as a digital emerging artist with Manitoba Opera has not only allowed for me to remain engaged with this industry and my growth as a young singer during this difficult time, but has also presented an invigorating opportunity to contribute to what opera will look like in 2020,” says soprano and DEAP participant Sydney Baedke. “It is inspiring to be involved in Manitoba Opera’s digital artistic initiative, and I’m so grateful for this new, exciting platform.”
Jenna is the editor and co-creator of Schmopera. She also writes for The Globe and Mail and Opera Canada. She’s a pianist and vocal coach, and working with singers is how she fell in love with opera.
