Biography
Rachel Willis-Sørensen, a soprano whose commanding instrument encompasses a broad operatic spectrum from Mozart to twentieth-century scores, entered into an exclusive multi-album contract with Sony Classical and issued her first recording, titled Rachel, in 2022.
Born Rachel Willis in Richland, Washington, in 1984, she participated in musical-theater productions while a student at Hanford High School. At Brigham Young University she was repeatedly turned away from choral ensembles on the grounds that her voice would not blend, despite later earning a master’s degree there in vocal performance and pedagogy in 2009. A member of the Mormon church, she undertook a mission in Hamburg, Germany, in 2008, where she met her future husband, Rasmus Sørensen. That same year she made her professional stage debut at the Utah Festival Opera as the High Priestess in Verdi’s Aïda. Between 2009 and 2011 she trained at the Houston Grand Opera Studio, appearing with the company on several occasions, and captured first place in Houston’s Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers in 2009 as well as the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions the following year. International attention intensified in 2014 when she claimed the First Prize, the Birgit Nilsson Prize, and the Zarzuela Prize at Plácido Domingo’s Operalia competition in Los Angeles.
Earlier milestones included her Royal Opera House debut as the Countess Almaviva in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro during the 2011–2012 season. From 2012 to 2015 she held a company position at the Semperoper Dresden, after which engagements followed at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Vienna State Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, and San Francisco Opera, where her portrayal of the title character in Dvořák’s Rusalka drew particular praise. In the 2021–2022 season she performed Mimì in Puccini’s La bohème in a live online transmission alongside tenor Jonas Kaufmann and assumed the role of Elsa in Wagner’s Lohengrin at Oper Frankfurt. Both Elsa and Donna Anna in Mozart’s Don Giovanni have become signature parts for her, underscoring an uncommonly expansive vocal range.
Born Rachel Willis in Richland, Washington, in 1984, she participated in musical-theater productions while a student at Hanford High School. At Brigham Young University she was repeatedly turned away from choral ensembles on the grounds that her voice would not blend, despite later earning a master’s degree there in vocal performance and pedagogy in 2009. A member of the Mormon church, she undertook a mission in Hamburg, Germany, in 2008, where she met her future husband, Rasmus Sørensen. That same year she made her professional stage debut at the Utah Festival Opera as the High Priestess in Verdi’s Aïda. Between 2009 and 2011 she trained at the Houston Grand Opera Studio, appearing with the company on several occasions, and captured first place in Houston’s Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers in 2009 as well as the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions the following year. International attention intensified in 2014 when she claimed the First Prize, the Birgit Nilsson Prize, and the Zarzuela Prize at Plácido Domingo’s Operalia competition in Los Angeles.
Earlier milestones included her Royal Opera House debut as the Countess Almaviva in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro during the 2011–2012 season. From 2012 to 2015 she held a company position at the Semperoper Dresden, after which engagements followed at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Vienna State Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, and San Francisco Opera, where her portrayal of the title character in Dvořák’s Rusalka drew particular praise. In the 2021–2022 season she performed Mimì in Puccini’s La bohème in a live online transmission alongside tenor Jonas Kaufmann and assumed the role of Elsa in Wagner’s Lohengrin at Oper Frankfurt. Both Elsa and Donna Anna in Mozart’s Don Giovanni have become signature parts for her, underscoring an uncommonly expansive vocal range.
Albums
