Hometown: St. Catharine’s, Ontario

Canadian mezzo-soprano Sydney Cornett is a versatile, enthusiastic performer, originally from St. Catharine’s, Ontario. On stage, she has performed in productions of La Calisto, Dido and Aeneas, and Dialogues des Carmélites, as well as Sondheim’s Into the Woods. This season, she made her debut as Gianni Schicchi in Bard College’s 2026 production of the opera, singing the role as a mezzo under the mentorship of Stephanie Blythe. In concert, she has been most notably featured as a soloist in Schütz’s Die sieben Worte Jesu Christi am Kreuz and Rogers’ Three Japanese Dances with the renowned Eastman Wind Ensemble.

A lover of contemporary music, she premiered Yi-Ning Lo’s piece A Celebration of Mediocrity with Eastman’s Musica Nova ensemble. In 2025, she gave the US premiere of György Kurtág’s What is the Word, op. 30, at Bard College’s Kurtág Festival, marking one of the first performances of the piece not presented by Ildikó Monyók, the actress for whom the piece is written. In 2026, she returned to the Festival, performing Thomas Adès’ Növények. 

Sydney also spent many years working in new Canadian musical theatre. She can notably be heard on the cast recording of Drama 101 by Kevin Wong, after appearing as Celeste during the show’s award-winning run at the Toronto Fringe Festival.  

Sydney holds a Bachelor of Music from the Eastman School of Music and a Master of Music from the Bard College Conservatory of Music.