Praised for her “brilliant lyric soprano,” Rachel Blaustein has gained
recognition for her riveting stage presence and innate musicality in a
variety of repertoire ranging from the baroque to the contemporary.
Rachel was one of ten national finalists for the 2022 Metropolitan Opera
Laffont Competition, winning the Fernand Lamesch National Finalist
Award. Additionally, she is a dual German-American citizen in
possession of an active EU passport.
Ms. Blaustein’s exciting 2025-2026 season kicked off at the Spoleto
Festival, where she was called in at the eleventh hour to sing an
“evocative” Miss Jessel in The Turn of the Screw for three out of four
performances (CultureSouth). Also this season, she makes her role and
company debut at Cincinnati Opera as Hodel in their new production of
Fiddler on the Roof, a role she the reprises later in the season in a return
to Austin Opera. She joins Ravinia Festival as a Vocal Fellow in their
prestigious Steans Institute and makes her role and company debut in the title role of Dean Anthony’s
production of Viardot’s Cendrillon at Opera Montana. Additionally, she will join Chicago Opera Theater as
Mistress Ford (cover) in Salieri’s Falstaff, and make her debut with Virginia Symphony Orchestra in
Handel’s Messiah.
The 2024-2025 season included her return to Carnegie Hall in Erica Glenn’s Worldwide Requiem, conducted
by the composer, her début with Austin Opera as Jocelyn Jordan in The Manchurian Candidate, her début
with South Florida Symphony in Handel’s Messiah, and the title role in Rusalka at Pacific Opera Project,
where Stage & Screen praised her as a “standout” for her “lush phrasing and shimmering high notes.” In
the previous season, Rachel made her role debut as Gilda in Rigoletto with Opera Delaware and Opera
Baltimore. Tim Smith, former arts critic for the Baltimore Sun, praised her “lovely, pearly thread of tone
that helped her get to the very heart of the character.” She also joined Opera Omaha for their Opera
Outdoors concert, performed as Sarah Kavalier in the workshop of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier &
Clay with The Metropolitan Opera, presented a recital at Academy Art Museum, and debuted with the
Indianapolis Symphony for Handel’s Messiah. In previous seasons, Ms. Blaustein performed the role of
Nannetta in Falstaff with Maryland Lyric Opera, Countess Almaviva in Annapolis Opera’s production of Le
nozze di Figaro, and Pamina in The Magic Flute for Opera Theatre of St. Louis’ digital series, and she made
her Carnegie Hall début as the soprano soloist in Carmina Burana. Other concert engagements included
Mozart’s Requiem with New Choral Society, appearances with Maryland Opera, and Gala concerts with
Opera Edwardsville and the Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra.
Ms. Blaustein made her Santa Fe Opera début in summer 2021 as Autonoe in the world premiere of John
Corigliano and Mark Adamo’s The Lord of Cries and is heard on the opera’s Grammy-nominated
commercial release on the Pentatone label. She made her Tulsa Opera début as Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi
and joined the Washington National Opera to cover the role of the Monument in Kamala Sankaram and
A.M. Homes’ Rise as part of the world premiere of Written in Stone. She returned to Chicago Opera Theatre
as Frasquita in Carmen, where she appeared previously as the Queer Kid in the Midwest premiere of Kamala
Sankaram and Jerre Dye’s Taking up Serpents and in Daniel Catan and Juan Tovar’s La hija de Rappaccini.
She created the role of Micòl in the 2022 world premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon and Michael Korie’s new opera
The Garden of the Finzi-Continis for New York City Opera, garnering praise from The New York Times for
“bringing a sweetness to Micòl that persevered through her character’s capriciousness.” She joined Opera
Theatre of Saint Louis to cover Pamina in their production of The Magic Flute and to sing the role of Ruth
and cover Rose in the world premiere of Tobias Picker and Aryeh Lev Stollman’s Awakenings. She also
joined The Metropolitan Opera for their workshop of Kevin Puts and Greg Pierce’s The Hours, made her
début as Tatyana in Eugene Onegin with Opera NEO, covered Kenzie in Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Lyric
Unlimited touring production of Earth to Kenzie, and joined the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra for Bach’s
Mass in B Minor.
Active in competition, Ms. Blaustein was a semi-finalist in the 2023 Paris Opera Competition and competed
in the second round of the 62nd Tenor Viñas Competition in Barcelona in 2025. Rachel is the recipient of the
Farwell Trust Award from the Musicians Club of Women and holds a 2025 Alumni Excellence Award from
her alma mater, Hofstra University. She took second place in the 2021 Partners for the Arts Competition
and has received numerous Regional and Encouragement Awards from the Metropolitan Opera
Competition before earning her Grant Finalist title in 2022.
A native of Olney, Maryland, Ms. Blaustein earned her Master of Music from the Peabody Institute of The
Johns Hopkins University.
