About

Described by Opera News as “enchanting [...] radiant and glittering,” soprano Sydney Mancasola is quickly establishing herself as one of the most engaging singing actresses of her generation. Beginning her musical training as a classical violinist in her home state of California, Sydney went on to study voice at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio, where she completed her Bachelor of Music degree in 2011 and was the recipient of the Margot Bos Standler Scholarship. Sydney was previously a member of the ensemble at Oper Frankfurt, where her roles included Gilda Rigoletto, Musetta La bohème, Pamina Die Zauberflöte, Onoria Ezio, the Italian Singer in Capriccio, Roxana in a new production of Szymanowski’s Król Roger, Frasquita Carmen, Susanna Le nozze di Figaro and the soprano soloist in a new production of Betulia liberata.

Mancasola opens the 2024-25 season with her house and role debut as Marzelline Fidelio with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, followed by her house debut at Dutch National Opera as Adele in Barrie Kosky’s production of Die Fledermaus. She also debuts at the Opera Nice Côte d’Azur as Pamina Die Zauberflöte, and at the Seji Ozawa Matsumoto Festival in Japan as Titania A Midsummer Night’s Dream, reprising the role she performed last season in her company debuts at both the Fondazione Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, Italy, and at the Royal Opera House Muscat. Mancasola also makes her role debut as Norina Don Pasquale for her house debut at Staatsoper Hamburg, reprising the role later in the season for the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. Future seasons include returns to the Metropolitan Opera, Los Angeles Opera, and debuts with the Atlanta Opera and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. 
 
Highlights of the 2023-24 season included the title role of Matthew Aucoin Eurydice in a new chamber arrangement of the work for Boston Lyric Opera, a return to the Metropolitan Opera as Frasquita in their new production of Carmen, and appearing as Mélisande in Pelléas et Mélisande at Des Moines Metro Opera. Macasola debuted Mélisande as her house debut at Los Angeles Opera in the 2022-23 season, conducted by James Conlon in a production by David McVicar, where other season highlights included a return to Bess Breaking the Waves for the Opéra Comique, Paris. She also returned to the Metropolitan Opera to reprise the role of Pamina in the Holiday Production of The Magic Flute, as well as covering the roles of Adina/L’Elisir and of Laura Brown for the world premiere of Kevin Put The Hours, directed by Phelim McDermott.  
 
Mancasola's notable debuts have included her house and role debut at the Opéra National de Paris, singing Adina L’Elisir d’amore at the Opera Bastille, her company debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Pamina The Magic Flute and Frasquita Carmen, which was broadcast to theatres around the world as part of the Met’s Live in HD program, as well as her debut as Bess in a new production of Breaking the Waves at the Adelaide Festival Centre in Australia and Edinburgh International Festival, where she was awarded a Herald Angel for her performance. She made her European debut with Komische Oper Berlin as the heroines Les Contes d’Hoffmann, subsequently returning to the house as Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare, Pamina Die Zauberflöte, title role Semele and Eurydice in Offenbach Orpheus in der Unterwelt. 
 
Further highlights include Titania in Britten A Midsummer Nights’ Dream at the Des Moines Metro Opera, a return to English National Opera to sing Musetta in their unique outdoor ‘Drive & Live’ production of La bohéme held at Alexandra Palace, produced as a response to the Covid-19 crisis, and Fiordiligi Cosi fan Tutte for the Lucerne Theater. Elsewhere she made her house debut at Washington National Opera as Pamina Die Zauberflöte conducted by Eun Sun Kim, her role debut as Violetta in La traviata and Lisette in La Rondine for the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, performed the title role Manon and the role of Comtesse Adèle Le Comte Ory at Des Moines Metro Opera, title role in Manon for Oper Köln, Gilda in the Jonathan Miller production of Rigoletto at English National Opera, Marie in La Fille du régiment for Palm Beach Opera and her role debut as Leïla in Les Pêcheurs de perles with Florida Grand Opera. 
 
The concert stage has seen Mancasola in performance at the Palau de les Arts, Valencia singing Mahler Symphony No. 2, Haydn Die Schöpfung for her Italian debut with the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale RAI conducted by James Conlon, and with the Eugene Symphony Orchestra; Handel Messiah with the Santa Fe Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Lexington Philharmonic and with the Philadelphia Orchestra under the direction of Michael Rossi; Barber Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with the Sun Valley Symphony; and Carmina Burana, Mendelssohn Hear My Prayer and Strauss Brentano-Lieder with the Santa Fe Symphony. She was also featured as a guest soloist in Schubert Mass in G and Mozart Exsultate, jubilate with the 2012 international music festival Calí de Camara in Colombia, and performed a recital with Elīna Garanča at The Green Space in New York as part of the Classical Up Close series. 

Honours and awards include a Grand Finals winner of the 2013 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, a winner of the 2016 Mabel Dorn Reeder Foundation Prize from Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Top Prize Winner of the Gerda Lissner Foundation Competition, 2nd Prize and Audience Favourite at the Houston Grand Opera Eleanor McCollum Competition, and 1st Prize in the Loren L. Zachary National Vocal Competition. Mancasola is an alumna of the Academy of Vocal Arts, Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Program, where she received the Judith Raskin Memorial Award for Singers, the Gerdine Young Artist program at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and the Brevard Music Center.