Rachel Willis-Sørensen

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Rachel Willis-Sørensen (2019)

Rachel Willis-Sørensen (* 1984 ) is an American soprano .

education

The singer received her Masters in Singing and Vocal Education from Brigham Young University . Her professors included Darrell Babidge. Her training also took her to the studio of the Houston Grand Opera and to the mezzo-soprano Dolora Zajick.

Career

Willis-Sørensen's extensive repertoire includes her best-known roles to date, such as Donna Anna in Mozart's Don Giovanni , Marschallin in Rosenkavalier or the title role in Dvořák's Rusalka . Other roles are Elettra ( Idomeneo ), Licenza ( Il sogno di Scipione ), Vitellia ( La clemenza di Tito ), Countess Almaviva ( Figaro's wedding ), Fiordiligi ( Così fan tutte ), Hélène ( Les vêpres siciliennes ), Eva ( The Mastersingers of Nuremberg ), Elsa von Brabant ( Lohengrin ), Gutrune ( Götterdämmerung ) Rosalinde ( Die Fledermaus ), Agathe ( Der Freischütz ), Hanna Glawari in The Merry Widow , Diemut ( Feuersnot ), Leonore ( Fidelio ), Ariadne ( Ariadne auf Naxos ), Mimì ( La bohème ), Leonora ( Il trovatore ), Masha ( Queen of Spades ), Governess ( The Turn of the Screw ) and Marguerite ( Faust ).

She made her debut as High Priestess in Aida at the 2008 Utah Opera Festival and was inducted into the Houston Grand Opera Studio the following season , where she made other role debuts. In the 2009/2010 season Willis-Sørensen made her debut on the main stage as Masha in Queen of Spades , sang Elsa in Lohengrin and the governess in The Turn of the Screw . In the following season 2010/2011 she sang the role of Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly and Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte as part of the opera studio performances . She also took on roles such as Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes , the Countess in Figaro's Wedding and the title role in Ariadne auf Naxos . Later in the season she made her debut at Santa Fe Opera as First Lady in Mozart's Magic Flute and sang excerpts from Arabella as a member of their trainee program.

Willis-Sørensen made her debut at the Royal Opera House as Countess in Figaro's Wedding under the musical direction of Antonio Pappano . With the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Leonard Slatkin , she performed Beethoven's 9th Symphony at the Hollywood Bowl and performed at the Opera Theater Saint Louis as Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte . On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Gotham Chamber Opera, she was seen as a license in Christopher Alden's production of Mozart's Il sogno di Scipione . Towards the end of the season she returned to the Royal Opera House as Gutrune in Götterdämmerung and also appeared at the Houston Grand Opera, this time as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni .

The soprano was a member of the ensemble of the Semperoper Dresden from 2012 to 2015, during which time she expanded her repertoire to include many roles, including the title role in The Merry Widow , Vitellia in La clemenza di Tito , Elettra in Idomeneo , Diemut in Feuersnot , Rosalinde in the bat and Mimì in La bohème .

In the 2018/19 season she sang Rosalinde in der Fledermaus again with Jonas Kaufmann in a live televised performance and made her role debut as Leonora in Il trovatore at the Teatro Regio di Torino . and was seen as Hélène in Les vêpres siciliennes at the Bavarian State Opera, among others. In addition to her second role debut in the title role of Rusalka at the San Francisco Opera. she could be heard in Mozart's Don Giovanni as Donna Anna at the Metropolitan Opera .

The 2019-20 season began with her debut in Japan as part of the Royal Opera House tour, in the role of Marguerite in Faust in Tokyo. She has also sung Marschallin at the Semperoper Dresden, again Don Giovanni at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Bavarian State Opera and the Opéra national de Bordeaux. She made her role debut as Valentin in Les Huguenots at the Grand-Théâtre de Genève, sang again in Dresden as Alcina and the Countess in Figaro's wedding at the Opéra national de Bordeaux.

Awards

  • First place, Birgit Nilsson Prize and Zarzuela Prize at the Operalia Competition 2014
  • First place at the Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition 2011
  • Winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions 2010
  • Sara Tucker Grant of the Richard Tucker Music Foundation in 2010
  • First place in the Eleanor McCollum Young Singers Competition in Houston, 2009

Private life

Willis-Sørensen grew up in Richland, Washington and did volunteer work in the Mormon religious community a . a. in the "Germany Hamburg" mission. She is married to Rasmus Grand Sørensen, a Dane, with whom she has three children.

Discography

  • Beethoven: Lieder & Partsongs , Various Artists, Deutsche Grammophon, 2020
  • Vienna , Jonas Kaufmann, Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Ádám Fischer, Sony Classical, 2019
  • Strauss, R: Elektra , Staatskapelle Dresden conducted by Christian Thielemann , Deutsche Grammophon, 2014
  • 19th festive opera gala for the German AIDS Foundation , Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin conducted by Alain Altinoglu, Naxos, 2013

Web links

Commons : Rachel Willis-Sørensen  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Classic magazine
  2. ↑ a b Rachel Willis-Sørensen. Accessed January 31, 2020 .
  3. ^ Bavarian State Opera : Willis-Sørensen Rachel. Accessed January 31, 2020 .
  4. ↑ a b c Rachel Willis-Sørensen - People - Semperoper Dresden. Accessed January 31, 2020 .
  5. ^ Rachel Willis-Sørensen - People - Royal Opera House. Accessed January 31, 2020 .
  6. ^ Götterdämmerung - Productions - Royal Opera House. Accessed January 31, 2020 .
  7. ^ "Die Fledermaus" from the Semperoper. December 30, 2018, accessed on January 31, 2020 (German).
  8. ^ In Turin's Trovatore, the women carry the day. Retrieved January 31, 2020 (French).
  9. ^ Bavarian State Opera: Les Vêpres siciliennes. Accessed January 31, 2020 .
  10. ^ San Francisco Opera | Dvorak's Rusalka. Accessed January 31, 2020 .
  11. ↑ Metropolitan Opera 2018-19 Review: Don Giovanni - Opera Wire. Accessed January 31, 2020 .
  12. ↑ Beethoven 2020 - Songs & Partsongs. Accessed January 31, 2020 (English).
  13. ^ Jonas Kaufmann - Vienna Vienna | CD. Accessed January 31, 2020 .
  14. ^ R. Strauss Elektra / Herlitzius, Thielemann - 2 CDs. Accessed January 31, 2020 .
  15. ↑ 19th festive opera gala for the German AIDS Foundation (2 CDs) - jpc. Accessed January 31, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Willis-Sørensen, Rachel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American soprano
DATE OF BIRTH 1984