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"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..."

ANDREW CLEMENTS, THE GUARDIAN

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.

 

News

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schedule

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CONCERT ENGAGEMENT

ESTEREL ARENAS BOHEME PRODUCTION
18 DECEMBER 2024 

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SINBAD

SCHEHERAZADE

Howard Moody
OPERA DE NICE
20 JUIN 2024

VENICE BIENNALE.HEIC

ELEGY GABRIELLE GOLIATH

THE VENICE BIENNALE
21, 22 NOV 2024

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STATES OF INNOCENCE

EVE'S IMAGE

Ed Hughes
BRIGHTON DOME CORN EXCHANGE
19 MAY 2024

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CONCERT ENGAGEMENT

WELSH NATIONAL OPERA ORCHESTRA
18 SEPT 2024, MILLENIUM CENTRE
11, 18 OCT 2024, LLANDUDNO
15 NOV 2024, MAYFLOWER THEATRE

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CLASSIC FM LIVE

ROYAL SCOTTISH ORCHESTRA

ROYAL ALBERT HALL LONDON
22 APRIL 2024

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LA RONDINE

YVETTE/GEORGETTE/LISETTE

OPUS OPERA
LA RONDINE
31 JULY, 2, 4 AUGUST 2024 21H

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TOUS A L'OPERA

RECITAL

CLERMONT-AUVERGNE OPERA
14H00  11 MAY 
2024

Past Performances

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PRIERS DANS L'OPERA

LAKME / MARFA

/ S. CONSTANCE

ANTHEA ANTIBES
24, 25 NOVEMBER 2023

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FALSTAFF

NANETTA (COVER)

OPERA DE NICE
APRIL 2023

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REUNION DE FAMILLE

LAKME: DUO DES FLEURS

OPERA DE NICE
9 SEPTEMBER 2023

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INSURRECTION:

A WORK IN PROGRESS

MARGARET BRATHWAITE

ROYAL OPERA HOUSE COVENT GARDEN
21 - 25 MARCH 2023

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LAKME

LAKME

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

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VOIX DES OUTRE-MER

CONCOURS FINALE

OPERA BASTILLE, PARIS
4 FEBRUARY 2023

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SUSAN MANOFF

MASTERCLASS

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

 

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Les Contes d'Hoffmann

OLYMPIA

SALLE GRAMOUN LELE, LA REUNION
17, 18 FEBRUARY 2023

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STATES OF INNOCENCE

EVE'S IMAGE

Ed Hughes
BRIGHTON DOME CORN EXCHANGE
19 MAY 2024

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CONCERT ENGAGEMENT

HOMMAGE A CHRISTIANE EDA-PIERRE

OPERA CLERMONT AUVERGNE
8 MARCH 2024

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TOUS A L'OPERA

RECITAL

CLERMONT-AUVERGNE OPERA
14H00  11 MAY 
2024

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GURU

LA DISCIPLE A L'ORANGE

Laurent Petitgirard
THEATRE NATIONAL DE NICE
| OPERA DE NICE
20, 22, 24 FEBRUARY 2024 

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CLASSIC FM LIVE

ROYAL SCOTTISH ORCHESTRA

ROYAL ALBERT HALL LONDON
22 APRIL 2024

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CONCERT ENGAGEMENT

ICH BIN VERGNUGT CANTATA BWV 84

J.S. BACH

ORCHESTRE PALAIS JUSTICE
PARIS
25 JANUARY 2024

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LAKME

LAKME

YZEURE 
APRIL DATES TBC

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BABEL (PREMIER)

MONTERISI / THOMAS

OPERA DE NICE
JUNE 2022

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CENDRILLION

PAULINE VAIRDOT

CENTRE D'ART LYRIQUE MEDITERRANNEE
MARCH 2020 - WATCH HERE

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PIRATES OF PENZANCE

GILBERT & SULLIVAN

GREENWHICH CUTTY SARK
SEPT 2019

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VENUS & ADONIS

BLOW

MUSEO GRIMALDI, VENICE
AUG 2021

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 MUSIC OF WOMAN

A VINDICATION OF

NEWINGTON GREEN
MEETING HOUSE
6 APR 2021 - WATCH HERE

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IL MATRIMONIO SEGRETO

CIMAROSA

JACKSON LANE THEATRE
Nov 2018

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AKHNATEN

PHILIP GLASS

OPERA DE NICE
12 14 16 NOV 2021

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LA TRAVIATA

VERDI

TEATRO COMUNALE VITTORIO
SICILY, ITALY 2019

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DIE FLEDERMAUS

STRAUSS II

WILTONS MUSIC HALL
LONDON, 2018

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CINDERELLA

PAULINE VAIRDOT

NORTHERN OPERA GROUP
12 DEC 2020 - WATCH HERE

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LA TRAVIATA

VERDI

HAMPSTEAD GARDEN OPERA

JACKSON LANE THEATRE 2018

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THE MAGIC FLUTE

MOZART

BOUFFON THEATRE, PARIS 
JULY 2018

“crystalline voice”

PRO OPERA

“impressive technique”

THE GUARDIAN

“Worthy winner”

S O P R A N O

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© 2024 by Rachel Duckett. All rights reserved. 

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