Canadian soprano Rachel Allen has been praised for bringing “great tenderness” and “seductive power” to her singing. Particularly lauded for her interpretations of baroque repertoire, she has performed with leading period ensembles in Canada and the UK. Recent roles include Dido (Dido and Aeneas) at Cadogan Hall, Poppea (L’incoronazione di Poppea), and Morgana (Alcina) and Venus in Blow’s Venus and Adonis at the Ryedale Festival, where Opera Magazine admired her “pleasing period-style soprano… [she] moved with a grace not often found among singers”. Rachel holds a Master’s degree from the Royal College of Music, where she studied with Alison Wells, supported by a Rob Anderson Award and a Help Musicians UK Postgraduate Award.
She was a semi-finalist in both the 2024 Cesti International Singing Competition and the International Haydn Competition in Rohrau, and won the New Elizabethan Award with Londinium Consort, with whom she made her Wigmore Hall debut in recital in February. She is a 2025 Young Artist with the Musician’s Company and Brighton Early Music Festival. Her interest in historical performance extends beyond the stage: while an undergraduate at the Royal Northern College of Music, she co-authored an entry for Grove Music Online on the 18th-century Handelian soprano Élisabeth Duparc (La Francesina), in collaboration with Dr Cheryll Duncan.
A keen ensemble singer, Rachel has sung with the Monteverdi Choir, BBC Singers, Gabrieli Consort, and chorus of Opera Atelier. In 2025, she looks forward to the release of her debut album, Crossing Paths, with Londinium Consort, supported by the Continuo Foundation, as well as recitals at Sinfonia Smith Square, City Music Society, St Martin-in-the-Fields, and Leeds International Concert Season.
