Australian soprano Rachelle Durkin is one of opera's most striking young artists performing at major houses worldwide to critical acclaim.

"The spirited, bright-toned Rachelle Durkin brought tremendous vivacity to her role as the evil sorceress Armida" says The Australian, "demonstrating accuracy, agility, and a strong upper register in her many florid coloratura showpieces." In 2006, she performed in the Metropolitan Opera's Parsifal (First Flower Maiden) and at the Joseph Volpe Gala which was nationally televised. She also recently performed the Beethoven 9th Symphony and Bruckner's Te Deum with the Greensboro Symphony.

After winning the 2001 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Ms. Durkin joined the Metropolitan Opera's Lindeman Young Artists Development Program. She made her Metropolitan Opera debut as the First Handmaiden in Sly and has subsequently appeared as Clorinda in Cenerentola, Young Girl and Naked Virgin in Moses und Aaron, Barena in Jenufa, Teresa in Benvenuto Cellini, Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Masha in Pique Dame, Elvira in L'Italiana in Algeri, and First Flower Maiden in Parsifal, which she performed at the Salzburg Festival as part of the Met tour with Maestro Levine. In the past two seasons, Ms. Durkin performed a variety of repertoire including Armida in Rinaldo in Sydney, Countess Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro with Opera Australia, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni in Perth and with the Lyric Opera of San Antonio, Cunegonde in Candide with the Bellingham Festival of Music, Clorinda in Cenerentola with the Metropolitan Opera, and her Carnegie Hall debut as the soprano soloist in Handel's Messiah. 

Other recent acclaimed portrayals include Corinna in Chicago Opera Theater's production of Il Viaggio a Reims, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni for both Opera Queensland and West Australian Opera, and a Gala Concert with Jose Carreras in Perth entitled Opera Under the Stars. Ms. Durkin is also a distinguished oratorio artist with repertoire ranging from the early works of Handel, Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven to the more recent works of Bernstein, Gershwin, and Sondheim. She has appeared with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the New Choral Society of Central Westchester and the Sydney, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra.

2006/07 sees performances as Gilda in Bilbao, Spain, Mozart's Exultate Jubilate and Madame Herz in Der Schauspieldirektor with the Auckland Philharmonia, New Year's Eve concerts with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Beethoven's 9th Symphony with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and her first performances of the title role in Alcina with Opera Australia.

For Rachelle's Competition testimonial, click here.

Further information available at www.patricktogher.com