"Sparkling and determined"
"Apart from showing impressive technique in Gilda’s aria Caro Nome from Verdi’s Rigoletto and Zerbinetta’s So War es mit Pagliazzo from Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos, Duckett ... was giving a dramatic performance..."
BIOGRAPHY
Rachel is a soprano of British and Jamaican heritage and recent winner of the Sir Willard White Trophy grand prize of the Voice of Black Opera competition after which she made her BBC Radio 3 debut with a live broadcast of the arias, “Caro nome” and Lakmé’s “Bell Song”.
Rachel is delighted to be evoking the character of Margaret Brathwaite in the ground-breaking project Insurrection: A Work in Progress at the Royal Opera House over the course of 5 sharing between 21st-25th March 2023
Rachel became a prize winner at several other competitions last year, including, the Grand Prix de la Voix du Centre d’Art Lyrique de la Méditerranée, where she won First Prize as well as the Audience Prize; the 14th Concours International de la Mélodie de Gordes, where she was a recipient of three prizes; She became the first recipient of the Prix des Amis des Voix des Outre-Mer Christiane Eda-Pierre awarded by the Voix des Outre-mers, with whom she will perform Olympia The Tales of Hoffmann in the Reunion Island in February.
Having made her Opéra de Nice Côte d’Azur debut in 2020 as Beketaten in Lucinda Childs’ award winning production of Akhnaten (P. Glass), Rachel was soon invited back to perform the roles, Fire and Water at the world premier of Babel (Monterisi/Thomas) in June 2022, and Nanetta Falstaff in the Réunion Famille Gala in anticipation of Opéra de Nice’s 2022/23 season.
Rachel’s previous roles include: Cupid (Venus & Adonis) in Venice, Italy; La Fée Cendrillon (P. Viardot), a role she performed on two separate occasions, with Centre d'Art Lyrique de la Méditerranée and then with Northern Opera Group in 2020; Adele Die Fledermaus at Wilton's Music Hall; Queen of the Night
Die Zauberflöte at the Théâtre du Petit Monde, Paris, and Elisetta Il Matrimonio Segreto (Hampstead Garden Opera).
Rachel obtained her bachelor's degree in music from Goldsmiths University where she trained as a pianist-composer before sharing her final recital between piano and voice. She was commissioned to write 1948 Windrush: “Get your coat, a lot water" commemorating 70 years since the ship docked in Tilbury, England, 22 days after leaving Kingston, Jamaica. The piece premiered in Kings Place, London, as part of the “Women of the Windrush” event curated by Shirley Thompson and was subsequently performed again at the Bernie Grant Arts Center the following year.
On completion of her undergraduate studies, Rachel pursued her vocal development through private lessons and participation in Masterclasses with various esteemed pedagogues, including Anita Morrison, Gary Coward, Isabelle Guillaud, Elizabeth Vidal , André Cognet, Janice Chapman, Nelly Miricioiu, David Gowland, Giles Havergal Sophie Koch and Susan Manoff.
schedule
CONCERT ENGAGEMENT
ICH BIN VERGNUGT CANTATA BWV 84
J.S. BACH
ORCHESTRE PALAIS JUSTICE
PARIS
25 JANUARY 2024
LAKME
LAKME
YZEURE
APRIL DATES TBC
CONCERT ENGAGEMENT
WELSH NATIONAL OPERA ORCHESTRA
2024 - DETAILS COMING SOON
GURU
LA DISCIPLE A L'ORANGE
Laurent Petitgirard
THEATRE NATIONAL DE NICE
| OPERA DE NICE
20, 22, 24 FEBRUARY 2024
VIDEOS
Past Performances
PRIERS DANS L'OPERA
LAKME / MARFA
/ S. CONSTANCE
ANTHEA ANTIBES
24, 25 NOVEMBER 2023
FALSTAFF
NANETTA (COVER)
OPERA DE NICE
APRIL 2023
REUNION DE FAMILLE
LAKME: DUO DES FLEURS
OPERA DE NICE
9 SEPTEMBER 2023
LAKME
LAKME
CENTRE D'ART LYRIQUE DE LA MEDITERRANEE
16, 17, 18 JUNE 2023
VOIX DES OUTRE-MER
CONCOURS FINALE
OPERA BASTILLE, PARIS
4 FEBRUARY 2023
SUSAN MANOFF
MASTERCLASS
LES SAISONS DE LA VOIX A GORDES
26 - 28 MAY 2023
Les Contes d'Hoffmann
OLYMPIA
SALLE GRAMOUN LELE, LA REUNION
17, 18 FEBRUARY 2023
BABEL (PREMIER)
MONTERISI / THOMAS
OPERA DE NICE
JUNE 2022
CENDRILLION
PAULINE VAIRDOT
CENTRE D'ART LYRIQUE MEDITERRANNEE
MARCH 2020 - WATCH HERE
PIRATES OF PENZANCE
GILBERT & SULLIVAN
GREENWHICH CUTTY SARK
SEPT 2019
VENUS & ADONIS
BLOW
MUSEO GRIMALDI, VENICE
AUG 2021
MUSIC OF WOMAN
A VINDICATION OF
NEWINGTON GREEN
MEETING HOUSE
6 APR 2021 - WATCH HERE
IL MATRIMONIO SEGRETO
CIMAROSA
JACKSON LANE THEATRE
Nov 2018
AKHNATEN
PHILIP GLASS
OPERA DE NICE
12 14 16 NOV 2021
LA TRAVIATA
VERDI
TEATRO COMUNALE VITTORIO
SICILY, ITALY 2019
DIE FLEDERMAUS
STRAUSS II
WILTONS MUSIC HALL
LONDON, 2018
CINDERELLA
PAULINE VAIRDOT
NORTHERN OPERA GROUP
12 DEC 2020 - WATCH HERE
LA TRAVIATA
VERDI
HAMPSTEAD GARDEN OPERA
JACKSON LANE THEATRE 2018
THE MAGIC FLUTE
MOZART