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American mezzo-soprano Rachael Wilson is a recent recipient of the honorary Bavarian Art Prize. A native from Las Vegas, Nevada, she is a graduate of the Juilliard School, and was a member of the Opera Studio at the Bayerische Staatsoper, where she joined the Ensemble in 2015 - between 2019 and 2022 Rachael was a member of the Ensemble at the Staatsoper Stuttgart.
In the 2024/25 Season, Rachael will make her debut with the Komische Oper Berlin as the Alto Soloist in Damiano Michieletto's new staging of Handel's Messiah at the Tempelhof Airport; she also make her debut at the Staatsoper Hamburg as Donna Elvira Don Giovanni and she will return to Theater Basel in the title role of Carmen; to the Staatsoper Stuttgart as Jenny Hill The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny and to the Glyndebourne Festival as Varvara Katya Kabanova conducted by Robin Ticciati - Varvara is a role she will also sing in Krzysztof Warlikowski's new production at the Bayerische Staatsoper conducted by Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla. On the concert stage, Rachael will appear the Münchner Rundfunkorchester, the Gävle Symphony Orchestra and she will make her debut at the Musikverein with the Wiener Symphoniker and Lorenzo Viotti.
Last season, Rachael Wilson’s engagements included her role debut as Donna Elvira Don Giovanni for Santa Fe Opera and Malmö Opera; Lola Cavalleria Rusticana at The Royal Opera House and the title role of Carmen in a new production for Theater Basel conducted by Maxime Pascal; she also appeared with the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest in Rossini's Petite Messe Solenelle.
In the 2022/23 Season, Rachael made her debut at the Opernhaus Zurich as Balkis in a new production of Offenbach’s Barkouf, returning as Olga Eugene Onegin and at the Glyndebourne Festival as Hermia A Midsummer Night’s Dream, while at the Staatsoper Stuttgart she appeared as Charlotte Werther and in the title role of Carmen. On the concert platform Rachael performed Messiaen’s Harawi at the Ruhrtriennale and Spoleto Festivals; she recorded and performed Zemlinsky’s A Florentine Tragedy with the Munich Radio Orchestra; she joined the American Modern Opera Company for a concert performance of John Adam's El Nino in New York City and made her debut with the Orchestre national d’Île de France performing Prokofiev’s Ivan the Terrible.
Rachael’s recent operatic engagements include her debuts at the Teatro Real, Madrid as Cherubino Le nozze di Figaro - a role she also “jumped in” for at the Bayerische Staatsoper - and at the Opéra national de Rhin as Kay in Abrahamsen’s The Snowqueen, a role she reprised with the Dutch Radio Orchestra and Kent Nagano at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam.
She joined the Ensemble of the Staatsoper Stuttgart in the 2019/20 season, making her debut as La Malaspina in the Premiere of Sciarrino’s Luci mie traditrici, and she has since made role debuts as Charlotte, Carmen, Fricka Das Rheingold and in the title role of Vivaldi’s Juditha Triumphans.
During her time at the Bayerische Staatsoper (2015-19), Rachael’s appearances included: Kay The Snowqueen by Hans Abrahamsen; Hänsel Hänsel und Gretel; Dorabella Cosi fan tutte; Cherubino Le nozze di Figaro; the Gymnast Lulu; Bersi Andrea Chénier and Fatime in Weber’s Oberon – a performance for which she was awarded the Bayerische Festspielpreis.
Biography not for publication, for an up to date version please contact Oliver Clarke.
"Rachael Wilson was like a bat out of hell as Donna Elvira, to use a Meat Loaf metaphor. Her impassioned singing over the course of a huge role was astonishing, and it included superb Italian diction and a true word sense, in addition to its energy and gleaming tone... Wilson was alert to every moment on the stage, processing information and responding with the speed of a top-of-the-line CPU. Much of her physical portrayal, and some of her vocalism, seemed to be intentionally over the top. Elvira seemed an unhinged character careening out of control, almost always for comic purposes, but Wilson’s commitment and the skill with which she brought it off were impressive indeed" Santa Fe New Mexican
"Rachael Wilson’s performance as the betrayed Donna Elvira, who continues to pursue (and love) Don Giovanni, also stands out, both for Wilson’s hilarious and physical performance, as well as her vocal facility in this key—and large—role." Santa Fe Reporter
"Young American mezzo soprano Rachael Wilson shows big promise as Lola." Financial Times
"Olga was sung by American mezzo-soprano Rachael Wilson. She made her debut in this role with a wonderful voice and full of zest for life." Opern Magazin
"As the teenage Kay, Rachael Wilson offered her peachy mezzo. The tone was impressively full and rounded, the voice seemingly defying gravity, and absolutely even from top to bottom. She also exploited a notable range of vocal colour, modulating her use of vibrato to haunting effect." Opera Traveller
"This is mainly due to Rachael Wilson as the touching Charlotte, who goes through a difficult psychological process of change and embodies this in an extremely gripping way. Her aria “Va! Laisse couler mes larmes has an extremely emotional effect, is rich in timbres and touches you because of the sensitive slimness of the cantilenas." Online Merker
"Rachael Wilson - you have to remember this name from today! One cannot take one's eyes or ears away from this singer." Frankfurt Allgemeine
"Charlotte is sung by the American mezzo-soprano Rachael Wilson in such a way that it almost takes your breath away. So many colors, so much differentiation in dynamics, sound shaping, articulation! The evening should be called "Charlotte!" Stuttgarter Zeitung
"Rachael Wilson as (as Fricka), lays so many nuances, elegance, intimate shades of hurt love, but also that own awareness of power in her shimmering, precious voice, so that in just a few moments a very differentiated character image of Wotan's wife emerges." Classique News
"Rachael Wilson's Fricka is a real sensation: She sings Wotan's wife without any bitchiness, very softly and fluently, and shapes the figure's rolling between diva pose and despair with many fine nuances." Stuttgarter Nachtrichten
"Rachael Wilson gives a remarkable interpretation of her schizophrenic character locked in suffering that leaves her little contact with the real world." OperaWorld
"Finally, if we applaud the rest of the cast overall, we must pay special attention to the beauty and power of Rachael Wilson's voice in the role of the Page." Toute la Culture
"Rachael Wilson in the role of Kay is overwhelming by her intense acting, she seems entirely inhabited by the feelings of the character, while remaining mysterious, cold as it should be. Superb characterization." Classique News
No recordings found.