Bio
American soprano Rachel Willis-Sørensen is known for her portrayal of Verdi heroines, performing roles such as Leonora, Elisabetta and Desdemona, as part of her seasons that also include Mozart, Strauss, Puccini and Wagner, among other composers. A regular guest at the leading opera houses around the world, Le Monde enthused, “…the American soprano has without a doubt one of the most impressive voices in the opera world. The timbre, of marmoreal beauty, is striking, the projection telluric…” In recent seasons, she has performed at leading opera houses around the world – both in operas and in concert – and is a regular guest at the Metropolitan Opera, Wiener Staastoper, and Royal Ballet and Opera. She has released two acclaimed solo albums for Sony, and in 2025, she was honored with the Beverly Sills Artist Award.
Rachel Willis-Sørensen’s 2026/27 season showcases a range of major house returns, concert performances, and two notable role debuts. She opens the season at the Royal Ballet and Opera, returning as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, before making her role debut as Fausta in Massenet’s rarely performed opera Roma, presented in both Monte Carlo with the Philharmonic Orchestra Monte-Carlo and at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris. She makes her house debut with the Canadian Opera Company as Ariadne in Ariadne auf Naxos, returns to the Wiener Staatsoper as Mimì in La Bohème, and reprises one of her signature roles, Rosalinde, in Die Fledermaus at the Bayerische Staatsoper. She continues her longstanding relationship with the Metropolitan Opera and the works of Richard Strauss as the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier. The season culminates with her debut as Floria Tosca in the title role of Tosca at San Francisco Opera. On the concert stage, Willis-Sørensen performs Bernstein’s Kaddish at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and Strauss’s Four Last Songs in Toronto, Rome, Paris, and Vienna. Recital work forms a particularly important part of the season, with an appearance at the Staatsoper Berlin alongside the Théatre du Capitole in Toulouse. Among the season’s highlights is the world premiere of a song cycle by acclaimed composer Jeff Beal, written especially for Willis-Sørensen.
Previous engagements include the title role of Thaïs at the Théâtre du Capitole, Arabella at the Metropolitan Opera, Norma at the Staatsoper Berlin, Elisabeth (Don Carlos) (in French) with Lyric Opera of Chicago and Grand Théâtre de Genève, Elisabetta (Don Carlo) with Teatro di San Carlo and the Bayerische Staatsoper, Rusalka (Rusalka) at the San Francisco Opera and NDR Hamburg, Antonia (Les Contes d’Hoffmann) at Opéra national de Paris, Marschallin (Der Rosenkavalier) at Glyndebourne, Semperoper Dresden, Santa Fe Opera and the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Violetta (La Traviata) at Opéra national de Bordeaux, LA Opera and the Bayerische Staatsoper, and at the Philharmonie de Paris, Marguerite (Faust) as part of the Royal Opera House’s tour of Japan, Elsa (Lohengrin) at Deutsche Oper Berlin, Opernhaus Zurich, Bayerische Staatsoper, Oper Frankfurt, and Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Desdemona (Otello) at the Wiener Staatsoper, LA Opera and the Bayerische Staatsoper, Ariadne (Ariadne auf Naxos) at the Glyndebourne Festival, and on tour to Hong Kong with the Bayerische Staatsoper, Mimì (La Bohème) at the Bayerische Staatsoper, the Wiener Staatsoper and Semperoper Dresden, Countess (Le nozze di Figaro) at the Metropolitan Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper and the Wiener Staatsoper, Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Wiener Staatsoper, Houston Grand Opera, Santa Fe Opera, and Semperoper Dresden, Hélène (Les Vêpres siciliennes) at the Bayerische Staatsoper and Elena in the Italian version (I Vespri Siciliani) at the Wiener Staatsoper, Valentine (Les Huguenots) at the Grand Théâtre Genève, Eva (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg) at the San Francisco Opera and the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Ellen Orford (Peter Grimes) at the Bayerische Staatsoper, Rosalinde (Die Fledermaus) at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Staatskapelle Dresden and the Wiener Staatsoper, Fiordiligi (Cosi fan tutte) at the Houston Grand Opera, Leonore (Fidelio) at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia, and Leonora (Il Trovatore) at the Teatro Regio di Torino, the Royal Opera House, Bayerische Staatsoper, Wiener Staatsoper, and Gran Teatre del Liceu.
Equally at home on the concert stage, concert work is an important part of each season. She is especially known for her interpretation of Strauss’s Four Last Songs, including notably at Buckingham Palace for an HRH Prince Charles birthday celebration. She made her Carnegie Hall solo recital debut in April 2024. Her repertoire includes Mahler’s 2nd, 4th and 8th Symphonies, Mendelssohn’s Elias, Dvořák’s Stabat Mater, Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder, Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder, and the Verdi Requiem, and she has appeared with orchestras such as the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Basque National Orchestra.
In 2021, Rachel signed a multi-record deal with Sony Classical. Her debut album, Rachel, was released in 2022, and her second CD, Strauss: Vier Letzte Lieder, was released in 2023. She is also featured on several duets on Jonas Kaufmann’s album, Wien.
Rachel holds both Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Brigham Young University and is an alumna of the Houston Grand Opera Studio. She won first prize at the 2014 Operalia competition in Los Angeles and at the 2011 Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition, and she was a winner of the 2010 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. She was a member of the ensemble at the Dresdner Semperoper for three years. An active presence on social media, she can be found on Instagram, Facebook and Tiktok @rachewillissorensen and on X under @RWSing.
