The 21-year-old soprano Sydney Penny from Boston is currently in her final year at Harvard University, pursuing a Bachelors Degree in Germanistik and Comparative Literature, while also studying privately with Professor Sharon Daniels, Associate Professor of Voice at the Boston University College of Fine Arts. Sydney could be seen on the stage as Patience in the operetta Patience, Mabel in the operetta Pirates of Penzance, and Lily in The Secret Garden, as well as Serpina in Pergolesi’s intermezzo La Serva Padrona, Erste Knabe in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte and Papagena in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte. A highlight of her undergraduate studies has been singing chamber music, namely performing Paul Stanhope’s modern composition “Three Lorca Songs” written for soprano and piano trio, as part of the Harvard Chamber Music ensemble, as well as Schubert’s “Der Hirt auf dem Felsen” with the MIT Chamber Music Society (Final performance unfortunately cancelled due to COVID-19.) From a young age, Sydney has had success in regional and international competitions, most recently as one of the youngest Semifinalists in the prestigious international Veronica Dunne Bursary for Young Singers. She is currently the youngest member of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, the resident chorus of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
At age 18, Sydney won the Fidelity Young Artist Competition, winning the opportunity to sing the French art song “Villanelle” by Eva Dell’acqua under the baton of Keith Lockhart at the historic Symphony Hall in Boston, MA. She was also selected as a Semifinalist in the National Classical Singer competition at age 17, competing amongst the top 30 young singers in the country. Regionally, Sydney won 1st place in the NATS Competition in Boston and 1st place in the Peter Elvins Vocal Competition. Further training includes Berlin Opera Academy, Songfest at Colburn Institute of Music, the Brevard Music Center program for High School Voices, the Metropolitan Opera Guild’s High School Voice Program and the Abingdon School for Solo Singers. In masterclasses, Sydney has sung for Elaine Kidd, Penelope Bitzas, Henry Hereford, Robin Bowman, Christine Cairns, Margaret H. Clark, Margo Garrett, Martha Guth, Mary Ann Hart, Kevin Murphy, Morris Robinson, Joan Rodgers and Harolyn Blackwell. Most recently she was selected by a panel consisting of Susan Graham, James Burton and Vinson Cole to sing as part of the Tanglewood Masterclass Series for Dawn Upshaw.
Taking a particular interest in German opera and Lieder, Sydney will write an original English translation of R. Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier as her graduating Senior Thesis from Harvard University, and she hopes her academic study of classical music will inform her future pursuit in a career of music.

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