George Enescu
Festival & Conference
commemorating the 50th anniversary
of his death
Rachel Watkins, soprano
Originally from Beaumont, Texas, soprano Rachel Watkins received a Bachelor of Music in Performance
from Loyola University, New Orleans, where she studied voice with Philip Frohnmayer. She also holds a
Master of Music from Yale University, where she studied in the Yale University Opera Program, under
Doris Yarick-Cross. Ms. Watkins went on to sing in the International Opera Studio with the Opernhaus
Zürich. Some of her recent performances have been Violetta in La Traviata conducted by Anton Coppola,
Clarice in Haydn’s Il mondo della luna in Basel, Ida in Der Musikfeind, Fulvia in Rossini’s
La Pietra del Paragone and Die Königen die Nacht in Die Zauberflöte für Kinder with the Opernhaus
Zürich, Gilda in Rigoletto, Gretel in Hansel und Gretel, Elvira in Rossini’s
L’italiana in Algeri,
Cleopatra in Händel’s Giulio Cesare with the Opera Theatre of Connecticut and Poppea in the Yale
Opera production of L’incoronazione di Poppea. Other roles include Musetta in
La Bohème, Susanna
in Le Nozze di Figaro, and Manon in Massenet’s Manon with the Brevard Music Festival conducted by
David Effron. In addition to her operatic repertoire, Rachel is an avid recitalist and concert
performer, having given numerous concerts both in Europe and the United States. She has worked
with notable conductors and has appeared as guest soloist with many orchestras in such works as
Mahler’s symphony no. 4, Beethoven Mass in C, and the Brahms and Fauré Requiems. Ms. Watkins has
also received numerous awards from prominent vocal competitions, including the MacAllister Opera
Competition Matthias Award, the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in the Connecticut
and Gulf Coast Regions, the Jenny Lind Soprano Competition, the Rosa Ponselle Competition, and the
Giulio Gari Foundation Opera Competition. Rachel can be seen on the recently released EMI Classics
DVD of Der Rosenkavalier with Vasselina Kasarova, Nina Stemma, and Alfred Muff under the direction
of Franz Welser-Möst and Sven Erich Bechtolf live from Opernhaus Zürich.
Originally from Beaumont, Texas, soprano Rachel Watkins received a Bachelor of Music in Performance
from Loyola University, New Orleans, where she studied voice with Philip Frohnmayer. She also holds a
Master of Music from Yale University, where she studied in the Yale University Opera Program, under
Doris Yarick-Cross. Ms. Watkins went on to sing in the International Opera Studio with the Opernhaus
Zürich. Some of her recent performances have been Violetta in La Traviata conducted by Anton Coppola,
Clarice in Haydn’s Il mondo della luna in Basel, Ida in Der Musikfeind, Fulvia in Rossini’s
La Pietra del Paragone and Die Königen die Nacht in Die Zauberflöte für Kinder with the Opernhaus
Zürich, Gilda in Rigoletto, Gretel in Hansel und Gretel, Elvira in Rossini’s
L’italiana in Algeri,
Cleopatra in Händel’s Giulio Cesare with the Opera Theatre of Connecticut and Poppea in the Yale
Opera production of L’incoronazione di Poppea. Other roles include Musetta in
La Bohème, Susanna
in Le Nozze di Figaro, and Manon in Massenet’s Manon with the Brevard Music Festival conducted by
David Effron. In addition to her operatic repertoire, Rachel is an avid recitalist and concert
performer, having given numerous concerts both in Europe and the United States. She has worked
with notable conductors and has appeared as guest soloist with many orchestras in such works as
Mahler’s symphony no. 4, Beethoven Mass in C, and the Brahms and Fauré Requiems. Ms. Watkins has
also received numerous awards from prominent vocal competitions, including the MacAllister Opera
Competition Matthias Award, the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in the Connecticut
and Gulf Coast Regions, the Jenny Lind Soprano Competition, the Rosa Ponselle Competition, and the
Giulio Gari Foundation Opera Competition. Rachel can be seen on the recently released EMI Classics
DVD of Der Rosenkavalier with Vasselina Kasarova, Nina Stemma, and Alfred Muff under the direction
of Franz Welser-Möst and Sven Erich Bechtolf live from Opernhaus Zürich.