Rachel Sterrenberg, soprano, is a native of Madison, Georgia.  She is a recent graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music. Rachel studies with Marlena Kleinman Malas and is currently located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

 

This season, Rachel joins Opera Philadelphia for a second year as an Emerging Artist.  During her tenure, she will sing Annina in their fall production of La Traviata and Sara in the highly anticipated East Coast Premiere of Jennifer Higdon and Gene Scheer's Cold Mountain.  Other collaborations include a performance of Carmina Burana with the Reading Choral Society, appearances with the Aizuri Quartet, and a European Tour with Curtis Institute Chamber Musicians.  

 

In the 2014-15 season, Rachel performed the title role in Tchaikovsky's Iolanta and Anne Trulove in Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress at the Curtis Institute of Music. As one of the inaugural Emerging Artists with the company, Sterrenberg recently made her professional debut with Opera Philadelphia in the newly commissioned opera and World Premiere of Charlie Parker's YARDBIRD as Chan Parker, wife of Charlie Parker, sung by Lawrence Brownlee. Rachel also appeared with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and Curtis on Tour's Chamber Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Robert Spano.

 

Past roles at the Curtis Institute include Adina, Blanche de la Force, Pamina , Mrs. Coyle (Owen Wingrave) , and Armida (Rinaldo). Other performances: Contessa Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro) with the Princeton Symphony Orchestra and the role of Ada Monroe (in workshop) in Pulitzer Prize winner Jennifer Higdon's premier opera, Cold Mountain, which has been commissioned by Santa Fe Opera, Opera Philadelphia, and Minnesota Opera.

 

Other credits include La Ciesca(Gianni Schicchi), Mary Warren (The Crucible), and Donna Anna with the Chautauqua Music Festival.  While attending the University of Kentucky, Rachel appeared as the First Lady  (The Magic Flute), Musetta, and the title role in Gounod's Romeo et Juliette.  

 

 

Sterrenberg was awarded 2nd place in the Mid-Atlantic Region of the Metropolitan National Council Auditions(2014). Rachel is a first place recipient of the Alltech Undergraduate Vocal Scholarship, the Peterson Vocal Competition, and the Strauss Award in the Orpheus National Vocal Competition.  In 2011, Rachel was named a winner of the Kentucky District Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and received the Encouragement Award for the 2012 MONC Mid-South Regional level of the competition.  Rachel is a recipient of the prestigious Shoshanna Foundation Grant.