Scottish Soprano Rachel Speirs has recently performed with English National Opera, English Touring Opera, Longborough Festival Opera, and Hurn Court Opera. She is a graduate of the Royal Northern College of Music where she won the Betty Bannerman Award for French Song, the Joyce and Michael Kennedy Award for the singing of Strauss, and was a finalist in the Elizabeth Harwood Memorial Prize.

Rachel’s recent and upcoming engagements include Titania in The Fairy Queen/A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Longborough Festival Opera), Governess in The Turn of the Screw (MusikFermata), cover Modestina in Il Viaggio a Reims and principal roles in Zoo! written for Special Educational Needs audiences (English Touring Opera), Princess Nekaya in Utopia Limited (National Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company), and cover Musetta in La bohème (Hurn Court Opera). Rachel recorded the role of Lotty with Retrospect Opera for their recording of G.A. MacFarren's The Soldier's Legacy released in 2022, and has also recorded songs by William Alwyn and John Manduell for Divine Art Records.

 

Rachel sang the role of Maria Bertram in Mansfield Park (Royal Northern College of Music), performed Mrs Nordstrom in A Little Night Music (Buxton International Festival), joined the Chorus of Opera North in Mahler’s 2nd Symphony, and sang with English Touring Opera Chorus for their Spring 2022 mainstage productions of La bohème and The Golden Cockerel, as well as the Soprano roles in How To Find Your Name for SEND audiences. 

Rachel is regularly engaged on the concert platform with recent highlights including Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem and Fauré Requiem with Leeds Philharmonic Chorus, Handel’s Messiah with Cantores Salicium, and Hadyn Nelson Mass with Padgate Choral Society. Rachel is passionate about sharing and creating music in community settings and is Co-Director of SoundUp Arts CIC, which brings music and opera to those affected by dementia. She has also worked in community settings for the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, English National Opera, English Touring Opera, Grange Park Opera, and The Sixteen.