Music, Browse > Home News / Australian Singing Competition Crowns Sidra Nissen – J-WireAustralian Singing Competition crowns Sidra Nissen after moving rendition of KaddishRead on for articleWhen 23-year-old mezzo soprano Sidra Nissen walked on stage at The Concourse Concert Hall in Chatswood, she made a bold choice. In the finals of the 2025 IFAC Handa Australian Singing Competition, she was the only singer not to perform exclusively operatic repertoire. Alongside Mozart’s “Smanie implacabili” from Così fan tutte, Nissen chose to sing Ravel’s “Kaddish” from Deux mélodies hébraïques. “As a Jewish person, I do not ever have to pretend when I sing the Kaddish,” Nissen told J-Wire after her win. But when I sing the Kaddish, I sing as though I myself am saying the prayer.