Soprano Rachel Hall has been praised as "a force of nature... with a gracefully huge voice" (Berkshire Fine Arts) for her August 2017 breakout performances in the title role in Janáček's The Cunning Little Vixenwith New York's Dell'Arte Opera Ensemble. The habitually fastidious New York press lauded her as "simply astonishing... a warm soprano of full body, easily fluidity and perfectly consistent tone... completely alive to every moment on the stage" (New York Classical).
Most recently, Ms. Hall made her contemporary opera debut in the role of Madeline Usher in Philip Glass’ The Fall of the House of Usher. This exciting new multi-media production was directed by Arthur Yorinks and Jim Simpson, under the musical direction of Michael Riesman at the iconic MassMoCA. Throughout the 2017–2018 season, Ms. Hall rejoined Opera Company of Middlebury to both perform Giannetta and cover Adina in L'elisir d'amore, made her role debut as Fiordiligi in Opera on the James' production of Così fan tutte, and rejoined the Canton Symphony as the soprano soloist in Carmina Burana. In 2019, Ms. Hall was an encouragement award winner from the Lyra New York International Mozart Competition, and a finalist in the Mâcon Symphonies International Voice Competition in Mâcon, France. Ms. Hall looks forward to an exciting role and company debut with The Princeton Festival this season, covering the role of Violetta in La Traviata.
Ms. Hall also appeared in concert with American Lyric Theater for an Alumni Concert at Merkin Concert Hall, featuring excerpts from two new works by Ricky Ian Gordon and Royce Vavrek (The House Without a Christmas Tree) and Patrick Soluri and Deborah Brevoort (Albert Nobbs) and participated in a master class with Mark Adamo. In the 2016–2017 season, Ms. Hall joined the roster of the Jacksonville Symphony on short notice to cover the role of Gretel in the orchestra's winter holiday performances of Hansel and Gretel.
Additional recent stage performances include Ms. Hall's role debuts as Oscar in Un ballo in mascheraand Adina in L'elisir d'amore(the latter with Shreveport Opera), her Lincoln Center debut as Gretel in a new production of Hansel and Gretelwith the Little Orchestra Society at Avery Fisher Hall, and an eight-month stint as Adeline in the original off-Broadway production of Serenade. Her concert appearances include a Mostly Mozart program with Annapolis Opera, her Santa Fe Symphony debut as the soprano soloist for Mozart's Exsultate jubilate, her Canton Symphony debut as the soprano soloist for Brahms' Deutsches Requiemand her return to the Canton Symphony as the soprano soloist in Beethoven's Symphony No. 9.
Ms. Hall initially earned national attention for her mainstage debut as Barbarina in Santa Fe Opera's 2013 production of Le nozze di Figaro, for which she was hailed as a "musically nuanced, clear soprano with a perfectly charming stage presence" (Ionarts). Her repertoire in the Apprentice Scenes Showcases included Dalinda in Handel's Ariodante, Norina in Don Pasquale, Nella in Gianni Schicchi, and Miss Jessel in The Turn of the Screw. She also fulfilled a young artist residency with Shreveport Opera, performing Micaëla in La tragédie de Carmen and Valencienne in The Merry Widow. In 2015, Ms. Hall won an encouragement award from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (North Carolina district).
Ms. Hall earned her Master of Music degree at Manhattan School of Music under the tutelage of illustrious soprano, teacher, and director Catherine Malfitano. She holds Bachelor degrees in both Music Performance and Music Education from Appalachian State University in Boone, NC.