Soprano Rachele Schmiege, hailed for her “incredibly crystalline voice” and “absolutely thrilling” portrayals, performs a wide range of repertoire throughout North America. At home in both standard repertoire and new music, Ms. Schmiege consistently brings fine musicianship and a compelling dramatic presence to her work.

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Ms. Schmiege enjoys a busy schedule on the operatic stage, and this season making role debuts as Nedda in I Pagliacci (Opera Theater of Connecticut) and the title character in Rusalka (Resonance Works).  Ms. Schmiege will also reprise the role of Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with Salt Marsh Opera.  In recent seasons, Ms. Schmiege gave acclaimed performances as Gwendolyn Fairfax in The Importance of Being Earnest, Lucette in Cendrillon (Resonance Works), Soprano II in Hydrogen Jukebox with (Nashville Opera), Amy in Little Women (Opera on the James), Elle in La Voix Humaine (Opera on the James), Violetta in La traviata (Hubbard Hall Opera Theater), Gilda in Rigoletto (Cape Cod Opera Outreach), Valencienne in The Merry Widow (Opera Providence), Dortchen Wilde in the US premiere of The Brothers Grimm (Nashville Opera), Beth in Little Women (Boston Opera Collaborative), Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro (Opera Columbus and Nashville Opera), and Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte (Cape Cod Opera), among other engagements. The Berkshire Review called Ms. Schmiege’s portrayal of Violetta at Hubbard Hall “vivid” and “ravishing," and the Daily Gazette called her voice “lustrous, agile, and supple." Boston Theatre Review wrote that, as Beth in Boston Opera Collaborative’s Little Women, her “breathtaking aria stole the show."

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Equally comfortable on the concert platform, Ms. Schmiege made her Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall debut as soprano soloist in the world premiere of composer Mohammed Fairouz's Bonsai Journal in 2008. She later reprised this piece at the Miller Theatre at Columbia University with the Mimesis Ensemble accompanied by Biljana Milovanovic of the Ibis Camerata. Subsequently, Ms. Schmiege sang Bonsai Journal in several concerts and can be heard performing the piece with Ibis Camerata on the recording Boston Diary, available on Albany Records.

Ms. Schmiege recently bowed as soprano soloist in the Verdi Requiem (Cape Cod Symphony and MidCoast Symphony), the Bach Magnificat (Akron Symphony Chorus), the Brahms Requiem (Nashoba Valley Chorale and Chatham Chorale), the Mozart Coronation Mass (Masterworks Chorale), new works by Kareem Roustom (The Mainly Mozart Festival, Coral Gables, FL), Brutal Arithmetic by Delvyn Case (Boston, MA), Five Songs by Eric Ewazen (The Juilliard School, New York), and Handel's Messiah (Boise Philharmonic and Kalamazoo Symphony). BroadwayWorld.com noted that her Verdi Requiem was sung with an “ample, clarion instrument which easily soared over the orchestra and chorus...with lovely phrasing and emotional shading.”

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Ms. Schmiege has been a Young Artist at such prestigious companies as Opera on the James, Cape Cod Opera, Nashville Opera, and Flagstaff in Fidenza, Italy. She was named First Place in the 2016 MetroWest Opera Competition (Boston, MA), Second Place, Emerging and Young Artist Division, at the 2016 Classical Singer Competition, Second Place in the Piccola Opera Competition (New Hampshire), Finalist in Connecticut’s Opera Idol Competition, and in the Orpheus Competition (Murfreesboro, Tennessee), and received Second Place in Connecticut’s Jenny Lind Competition. Ms. Schmiege earned her Bachelor of Music at Western Michigan University and her Master in Music from New England Conservatory. Rachele resides in Boston, Massachusetts with her husband, tenor Stefan Barner.