S O P R A N O

"Apart from showing impressive technique in Gilda’s aria Caro Nome from Verdi’s Rigoletto and Zerbinetta’s So War es mit Pagliazzo from Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos, Duckett ... was giving a dramatic performance..."
BIOGRAPHY
Rachel Duckett is a multiple prize winning soprano of Jamaican and British descent from London praised as a “rising star” (Ally Dunavant, Classic FM) with a “crystalline voice” (José Nogueira, Pro Opera) and “impressive technique” (Andrew Clements, The Guardian).
In 2022 she garnered recognition winning several prizes including: the “Sir Willard White Grand Prize Trophy” (The Voice of Black Opera), the “Grand Prize” and the “Audience Prize” of the Grand Prix de la Voix du Centre d’Art Lyrique de la Méditerranée, the “Christiane Eda-Pierre, Amis des Voix des Outre-Mer” prize (Voix des Outre-mers), and several awards from the Gordes International Song Competition.
Recent career highlights include her solo debut at the Royal Albert Hall for Classic FM’s LIVE event, singing the soprano characters of Peter Brathwaite’s ground-breaking project Insurrection: A Work in Progress at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, appearing as a guest performer at the Opéra Paris Bastille for the Concours Voix des Outre-Mers Finale, and creating the Fire role written specifically for her voice in the world premier of Babel (Monterisi/Thomas) at Opéra Nice Côte d’Azur.
Prized for her stratospheric coloratura faculty Rachel has portrayed Lakmé Lakmé, Olympia Tales of Hoffmann, Queen of the Night Die Zauberflöte, La Fée Cendrillon (P. Viardot), Adele Die Fledermaus, as well as more lyrical roles such as Nanetta Falstaff, Elisetta Il Matrimonio Segreto and Serpina La Serva Padrona, while also developing a range of contemporary roles such as Beketaten Akhnaten (Phillip Glass), Hyacinth Women of the Windrush (Dr Shirley J. Thompson) and Fire / Water Babel. Being a part-time composer herself Rachel is passionate about championing works by living composers and looks forward to premiering the role of Eve’s Image in Ed Hughes upcoming premier of States of Innocence at the Brighton Festival in May 2024 and debuting Scheherazade Sindbad (Howard Moody) at Opéra Nice in June 2024.
Rachel’s own composition portfolio includes a string quartet based on Moliere’s The Misanthrope, a 70th Anniversary commemorative piece, “1948 Windrush: Get Your Coat, A Lot Water” and a rapidly evolving original musical, Iroko’s Song, based on the life events of Solitude La Mulâtresse of Guadeloupe and Chevalier de Saint-Georges.
Rachel is also the founder of the Holborn Community Orchestra in London, a testament to her dedication to fostering music making across a range of platforms.
schedule

SINBAD
SCHEHERAZADE
Howard Moody
OPERA DE NICE
20 JUIN 2024

CONCERT ENGAGEMENT
WELSH NATIONAL OPERA ORCHESTRA
18 SEPT 2024, MILLENIUM CENTRE
11, 18 OCT 2024, LLANDUDNO
15 NOV 2024, MAYFLOWER THEATRE
VIDEOS
Past Performances

PRIERS DANS L'OPERA
LAKME / MARFA
/ S. CONSTANCE
ANTHEA ANTIBES
24, 25 NOVEMBER 2023

FALSTAFF
NANETTA (COVER)
OPERA DE NICE
APRIL 2023

REUNION DE FAMILLE
LAKME: DUO DES FLEURS
OPERA DE NICE
9 SEPTEMBER 2023

LAKME
LAKME
CENTRE D'ART LYRIQUE DE LA MEDITERRANEE
16, 17, 18 JUNE 2023

VOIX DES OUTRE-MER
CONCOURS FINALE
OPERA BASTILLE, PARIS
4 FEBRUARY 2023

SUSAN MANOFF
MASTERCLASS
LES SAISONS DE LA VOIX A GORDES
26 - 28 MAY 2023

Les Contes d'Hoffmann
OLYMPIA
SALLE GRAMOUN LELE, LA REUNION
17, 18 FEBRUARY 2023

GURU
LA DISCIPLE A L'ORANGE
Laurent Petitgirard
THEATRE NATIONAL DE NICE
| OPERA DE NICE
20, 22, 24 FEBRUARY 2024

CONCERT ENGAGEMENT
ICH BIN VERGNUGT CANTATA BWV 84
J.S. BACH
ORCHESTRE PALAIS JUSTICE
PARIS
25 JANUARY 2024

LAKME
LAKME
YZEURE
APRIL DATES TBC

BABEL (PREMIER)
MONTERISI / THOMAS
OPERA DE NICE
JUNE 2022

CENDRILLION
PAULINE VAIRDOT
CENTRE D'ART LYRIQUE MEDITERRANNEE
MARCH 2020 - WATCH HERE

PIRATES OF PENZANCE
GILBERT & SULLIVAN
GREENWHICH CUTTY SARK
SEPT 2019

VENUS & ADONIS
BLOW
MUSEO GRIMALDI, VENICE
AUG 2021

MUSIC OF WOMAN
A VINDICATION OF
NEWINGTON GREEN
MEETING HOUSE
6 APR 2021 - WATCH HERE

IL MATRIMONIO SEGRETO
CIMAROSA
JACKSON LANE THEATRE
Nov 2018

AKHNATEN
PHILIP GLASS
OPERA DE NICE
12 14 16 NOV 2021

LA TRAVIATA
VERDI
TEATRO COMUNALE VITTORIO
SICILY, ITALY 2019

DIE FLEDERMAUS
STRAUSS II
WILTONS MUSIC HALL
LONDON, 2018

CINDERELLA
PAULINE VAIRDOT
NORTHERN OPERA GROUP
12 DEC 2020 - WATCH HERE

LA TRAVIATA
VERDI
HAMPSTEAD GARDEN OPERA
JACKSON LANE THEATRE 2018

THE MAGIC FLUTE
MOZART