BIOGRAPHY

Rachel Willis-Sørensen

Soprano Rachel Willis-Sørensen made her Royal Opera House-Covent Garden debut this season as Countess Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro, a role which she also debuted at Michigan Opera Theatre. Her other performances this season include Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte at Opera Theater of St. Louis.  In future seasons, she will make a number of role debuts as a member of the ensemble at Semperoper Dresden, will return to the Royal Opera House, and Houston Grand Opera. Ms. Willis-Sørensen is a winner of the 2010 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and a member of the Houston Grand Opera Studio.  In her second year at the Studio, Ms. Willis-Sørensen sang the role of Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly on the mainstage and Fiordiligi in the HGO Studio performances. Also last season at HGO, she covered the roles of Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes, Countess Almaviva, and the title role in Ariadne auf Naxos. Additional awards for Ms. Willis-Sørensen include first place in the 2009 Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers in Houston and a 2010 Sara Tucker Grant from the Richard Tucker Foundation.