Rachel Fenlon

Soprano, Piano

Biography

Rachel Fenlon is a soprano and pianist who is finding a unique voice on the classical music stages of the world. Drawing from a singer-songwriter approach, Rachel performs song recitals as both singer and pianist accompanying herself. Praised for her “unusually shaped recitals in keeping with her extraordinary talent” (Places des Arts/Festival de Lanaudière), Rachel Fenlon performs internationally as a recitalist, as solo pianist and singer, and on the opera stage. Rachel was born in the UK, raised on the west coast of Canada, and is now based in Berlin.

In the 2023/24 season, Rachel performs self-accompanied recitals at Fundación Juan March, Pianosalon Christophori, Barokki Kuopo Festival, Klangwerk LIED, Lunenburg Academy of Music, Scotia Festival of Music and St. James’s Piccadilly, London, in varying programmes including Alban Berg’s Sieben Fruhe Lieder, Beethoven An die Ferne Geliebte, her own transcriptions of Dowland/Purcell, Bach/Busoni chorales, Claude Debussy’s Ariettes oubliées and George Crumb’s Apparition and Makrokosmos. On stage, Rachel performs Arnold Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire with Vancouver Opera, Pacific Opera Victoria, and Ne.Sans Dance Company.

Performing and commissioning new music is a core part of Rachel’s artistic practice. Her most recent new creation is a song cycle, titled Sing Nature Alive From My Insides, which world-premiered at Ottawa Chamberfest in 2022. It is a 40-minute song cycle for self-accompanied soprano, piano and live electronics for Rachel as performer, composed and co-created by Matthias McIntire, and set to poetry by Rachel. After its world premiere in August 2022 at Ottawa Chamberfest, the team went on to a collaboration with director Jamie McMillan to record a full-length art music film for Sing Nature Alive From My Insides, which will be released in early 2024.

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Reviews

“Canadian soprano and pianist Rachel Fenlon is redefining what it means to curate one’s own recital.”

Schmopera

“Rachel Fenlon is an unusual talent.  She’s equally skilled as a soprano and as a pianist and she has combined those talents to create an evolving show called Fenlon and Fenlon where she sings (mostly) art song while accompanying herself on piano. Rachel is a very decent singer and a really good pianist and above all a thoughtful and creative musician.  Last night was full of little “I thought I might just try this” moments that were great fun and very valid ways of exploring the songs… I like my traditional Liederabend as much as most folks but if someone is going to try to be different I’m much more attracted to what Rachel does than to slipping in some Rodgers and Hammerstein or Leonard Cohen.”

John Gilks

Opera Ramblings