BIOGRAPHY

Hailing from the west coast of Canada, soprano Rachel Allen has been praised for bringing “great tenderness” and “seductive power” to her singing. Particularly lauded for her interpretation of baroque repertoire, she recently made her debut at Cadogan Hall as Dido in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas following a debut in the role at the Overstrand Festival of Early Music. For her Venus in Blow’s Venus and Adonis at the Ryedale Festival, conducted by Eamonn Dougan, she was praised for her “pleasing period-style soprano… [she] moved with a grace not often found among singers”(Opera Magazine). Other recent highlights include Poppea (L’incoranazione di Poppea), Barbarina (Le nozze di Figaro) and Morgana (Alcina) with Ensemble OrQuesta. She was recently a semi-finalist in the Cesti International Singing Competition, International Haydn Competition, Rohrau, finalist in the Polly Leach Award for Singing, and won the New Elizabethan Award organised by the Musician’s Company with Londinium Consort. 

Rachel recently completed her Master’s degree at the Royal College of Music, where she studied with Alison Wells. There, she was a finalist in the 2023 Brooks van der Pump English Song competition and appeared as a soloist in Bach’s Easter Oratorio and Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre’s L’isle de Délos. She is grateful to have been supported by a Rob Anderson Award and a Help Musicians UK Postgraduate Award during her studies. She received her Bachelor of Music at the University of Toronto, studying with Peter Wilson on exchange at the Royal Northern College of Music in her final year. While at the RNCM, Rachel published an entry for Grove Music Online on 18th-century Handelian soprano Élisabeth Duparc (La Francesina), co-authored with Dr Cheryll Duncan. Rachel trained with sopranos Nancy Argenta and Ingrid Attrot in Victoria, Canada. In the Victoria Conservatory of Music Opera Studio, she appeared as Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), Hermia (The Fairy Queen), and Belinda (Dido and Aeneas). A keen ensemble singer, she is a regular member of the Monteverdi Choir, and has sung with the Gabrieli Consort, London Choral Sinfonia and the chorus of Opera Atelier.

With Londinum Consort, she looks forward to making her Wigmore Hall debut in February 2025, and to the release of their debut album “Crossing Paths”, supported by the Continuo Foundation.