TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

For Sophie Wingland, there's been no thought to being anything but a singer.

"I kind of always knew I would be a singer," Wingland said. "It was inevitable, I guess."

Wingland, who will be performing with the Bakersfield Symphony this weekend, grew up in Ventura, the daughter of former Bakersfield residents Mark and Kathy Wingland.

The 24-year-old soprano started singing in her church choir at age 6, and she has followed her musical road ever since, starting voice lessons at age 14, and then moving on to Ventura College in what would have been her junior year in high school.

"There wasn't much for me to do musically in high school," Wingland said.

A full-ride scholarship to Oberlin College, one of the leading music conservatories in the United States, plus graduate studies at USC, gave Wingland the opportunity to develop her voice and establish herself. Unlike many singers, however, she didn't specialize in a particular repertoire, and she has performed everything from Classical-era music to brand new compositions.

"I got the opportunity to sing a lot of stuff and work with a lot of composers," Wingland said. "(My graduate studies) kind of allowed me to wear several different musical hats and work with different composers, and that gave me an interest in contemporary music."

Wingland will sing two major 20th century works for soprano and orchestra with the BSO this weekend, Richard Strauss' Orchestral Songs, Op. 68, and the soprano solo in Gustav Mahler's Fourth Symphony.

From there, Wingland will finish preparations for the premier of the opera "Sylvia," written by Julia Adolphe, to be performed April 14 and 15 at the Lost Studio in Los Angeles. Wingland will sing the title role. In addition, Wingland has premiered works by other up-and-coming composers, including Jeffrey Parola, Brett Banducci and others.

From there, Wingland hopes to take matters into her own hands, by becoming a champion for new music. The singer said she is pursuing grants to fund a move to Europe, where she hopes to start her own contemporary music ensemble.

"My thought is I'd love to bring a new audience to contemporary music and get young people excited about new music," Wingland said.

Wingland said in addition to leading and performing in the ensemble, she also wants to reach out to people to promote new music.

"I hope by kind of throwing myself fully into it I can inspire other singers to put themselves even halfway into it," Wingland said.

-- Susan Scaffidi