about
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Known for performing self-accompanied song recitals as both singer and pianist, Rachel also appears widely as a chamber music and opera soloist. Her debut album Winterreise (October 2024) received widespread acclaim, named Album of the Week by BBC Radio 3, CBC, and Gramophone Magazine, and Album of the Month by Classic 106 FM. CBC praised it as “an outstanding new record... extraordinary,” and BBC Radio 3 called it “extraordinary and spellbinding.” Remarkably, it is the first self-accompanied Winterreise ever recorded.
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Rachel has performed across Europe, the UK, Canada, Brazil, and the U.S., with appearances at Konzerthaus Berlin, Martha Argerich Festival, Juan March Madrid, Vancouver Recital Society, Oxford Lieder Festival, Music Toronto, Salle Bourgie Montreal, Settimane Musicali di Ascona, and the National Arts Centre. In March 2025, Rachel made her U.S. debut at SXSW Festival in Austin, bringing classical music to one of the world’s most influential pop festivals.
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“Rachel Fenlon’s Winterreise is extraordinary for many reasons.
Fenlon makes for an astonishing premiere.”
— Opera Wire
Rachel Fenlon is a soprano and pianist who has carved a unique voice on the classical music stages of the world.
Photo by Clara Evens
Rachel Fenlon
About
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​​​​​​​​​Rachel Fenlon has been singing and accompanying herself from the piano since 2016. She has performed self-accompanied recitals at renowned international festivals and stages, including Oxford Lieder Festival, Martha Argerich Festival, Festival de Lanaudière, Fundación Juan March Madrid, Settimane Musicali di Ascona, Bechstein Hall London, Domaine Forget de Charlevoix, Vancouver Recital Society, Ottawa Chamberfest, Festival International Povoa de Varzim, Toronto Summer Music Festival, Oper Leipzig, Virtuosi Festival Brazil, Salle Bourgie, and Konzerthaus Berlin.
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The 2025/26 season sees Rachel continue to tour internationally across Asia, Germany, Scandinavia,and North America. Rachel’s season commences with a a solo recital tour of Canadian contemporary music to Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal, presented by the Canadian Music Centre, followed by a week of chamber music performances as both a singer and pianist at Sweetwater Festival. She then returns to Europe, to perform recitals at Kasseler Musiktage, Berlied Festival, and Silent Green Berlin. Rachel presents her audiovisual song cycle "sing nature alive" at Berlied Festival, Scotiafest and Silent Green Berlin this season, as well as her own electroacoustic compositions. In Winter 2025, Rachel continues her longtime collaboration with Finnish Baroque Ensemble Nylandia, with a tour in Finland of baroque concerts, as well as soprano soloist in Handel's Messiah with Kupio Symphony Orchestra. Rachel brings contemporary recitals to TonHain Kollectif, and performs vocals in Caroline Shaw complete string quartets with Manufaktur für aktuelle Musik in Berlin and Hamburg. Later in the season, Rachel returns to Canada for performances at the Kay Meek Centre, with the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra, and the Winnipeg Baroque Festival. She also makes her Asian recital debut, presented in China by Premier Performances Hong Kong.
Deeply devoted to new music, Rachel frequently tours the audiovisual contemporary work "Sing Nature Alive from My Insides" - a multimedia song cycle composed for self-accompanied soprano, piano, live electronics and video projections, composed by Matthias McIntire, set to poetry by Fenlon, with visuals by Jamie A. McMillan. It is currently touring as a live performance, with forthcoming record and film release. Offering a powerful reflection on the climate crisis, the live electronics are sourced sounds of nature, ocean waves, birds, waterfalls, as well as the live processing of Rachel’s voice and the composition features Rachel Fenlon's innovative self-accompanied performance. "Sing Nature Alive" premiered at Ottawa Chamberfest (2022), and this year made its debut at SXSW Festival Austin, as well as Konzerthaus Berlin, Sweetwater Festival, and Berlied. Read more about Sing Nature Alive here.​
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A composer herself, Rachel frequently performs works by living composers including Chaya Czernowin, Marti*n Luxa Schuttler, Osvaldo Golijov, Samy Moussa, Sarah Sleane, Matthias McIntire, Caroline Shaw, Kaan Bulak, and Gabriel Kahane. Her recent collaborations include the world premiere of "Ich bin dein Bub" (Schuettler/2025) on voice/synthesizer with Manufaktur für aktuelle Musik and SWR Kultur, recorded for SWR Kultur, and the world premiere of "Pourpre" (Bulak/2025) at Neuland Darmstadt . With New Chamber Ballet NYC, Rachel sang as the soloist in the world premiere of “APHORISMS”, featuring music by Ursula Mamlok, at Konzerthaus Berlin. Rachel is especially drawn to work with synthesizers and electronics in both her compositions and solo performances, and performs electroacoustic programmes at Silent Green Berlin, Berlied Festival, and Kasseler Musiktage this season.
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Her own compositions explore voice, ensemble, and electronics. Rachel recently composed a chamber opera companion to Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire. Titled "Pierrot entre 3 lunes", the work is co-production between Vancouver Opera, Opéra de Québec, and Opéra‑Théâtre de Metz, featuring her and Mireille Lebel sharing the title role. Pierrot entre 3 lunes premiered this August 2025 at Festival d'Opéra de Québec. Rachel has featured her own compositions in recitals, and in peformance with the Berlin Artist Collective 1781, notably in their Labyrinth series.
Previous highlights include self-accompanied recitals at prestigious festivals and venues such as Fundación Juan March, the Oxford Lieder Festival, Salle Bourgie, Vancouver Recital Society, Coast Recital Society, Festival de Lanaudière, Ottawa Chamberfest, National Arts Centre Canada, Settimane Musicali di Ascona, Vancouver Opera Festival, Martha Argerich Festival Hamburg, Festival International Povoa de Varzim, Toronto Summer Music Festival, Oper Leipzig, PODIUM Festival Matadepera, Klangwerk LIED, Kammermusik Festival Ahrenshoop, Pianosalon Christophori, the Canadian Broadcasting Company Studios, GEDOK Festival Berlin, and at venues such as the National SAW Gallery, Kuhlhaus Berlin, the Fox Cabaret Vancouver, Late Night Liederabend Vienna, Orpheum Annex Vancouver, Oper Leipzig, Gallery 345 Toronto, Vancouver Opera, the Baumann Centre at Pacific Opera Victoria, and the Theater am Delphi Berlin.
On the opera stage, Rachel has performed leading roles with Deutsche Oper Berlin, Ensemble Nylandia Finland, Vancouver Opera, the Rossini Opera Festival, and Pacific Opera Victoria. Her orchestral work extends to soloist with orchestras such as the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the Victoria Symphony, the Northern Czech Philharmonic, Finnish Baroque Ensemble Nylandia, and the Vancouver Bach Choir, Rachel’s concert work includes soprano soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Brahms’ Requiem, Mozart’s Requiem, Bach’s B Minor Mass, and Magnificat, Handel’s Messiah, Arvo Pärt’s Stabat Mater, Golijov’s Three Songs, Haydn’s Nelson Mass.
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Rachel is a graduate of the University of British Columbia and has participated in numerous international artist residencies, as singer, pianist, and composer. She is the co-founder of artist collective Crown The Muse, and a member of artist collectives New Art/New Media and 1781 Collective Berlin. Born in the UK, raised on the west coast of Canada, Rachel is now based in Berlin.​​​​​​
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