Born in Bedford, Rachel Nicholls is establishing herself as one of the most versatile sopranos of her generation, with a huge repertoire ranging from J. S. Bach and Handel to Schoenberg and Errollyn Wallen.

Winner of the Second Prize at the Kathleen Ferrier Memorial Competition, she made her début at London’s Royal Opera as Third Flowermaiden Parsifal. Other operatic engagements have included performances with L’Atelier Lyrique de Tourcoing, the Early Opera Company, English National Opera, English Touring Opera and Scottish Opera.

Singing with major orchestras throughout the UK, Europe and the Far East, Rachel Nicholls has worked in opera and concert with conductors including Stephen Cleobury, Thomas Dausgaard, Sir Colin Davis, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Valery Gergiev, Martin Gester, Richard Hickox, Sir Roger Norrington, Sir Simon Rattle, Steven Sloane and Masaaki Suzuki. Recital work has included programmes for the BBC, as well as at the Linbury Studio Theatre and the Wigmore Hall.

Her broadcasts and recordings include B Minor Mass and Cantatas Vol. 42 (BIS), Dvorak Stabat Mater (BBC), Orlando (Radio France), Silla (Somm), Hummel Mass in D Minor (Chandos), Music by Cecilia McDowall (Dutton) and Paul Spicer’s Easter Oratorio (Birmingham Bach Choir).

Current engagements include Marzelline Fidelio (London Lyric Opera), Joan For You (Music Theatre Wales), Wendy Peter Pan (Festival Rota dos Monumentos, Portugal), Ginevra Ariodante (English Touring Opera), Fiordiligi Cosi fan tutte (Théâtre des Champs-Elysées), Armida Rinaldo (Edinburgh Festival), Nerone L’Incoronazione di Poppea (New Theatre, Tokyo), the B Minor Mass, Jauchzet Gott, the St Matthew Passion and Messiah (Bach Collegium Japan), Jauchzet Gott and Haydn Il ritorno di Tobia (Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment), Beethoven Mass in C (Bochum Symphony Orchestra), Britten Spring Symphony (Three Choirs Festival, Hereford), Szymanowksi Stabat Mater (Huddersfield Choral Society) and an Opera Gala (Mikkeli City Orchestra).