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discipline = "Soprano"
primary_image = "https://res.cloudinary.com/schmopera/image/upload/v1579202963/media/2020/01/RacheleSchmiege_hsghhk.jpg"
primary_image_credit = ""
related_companies = ["scene/companies/odyssey-opera.md", "scene/companies/nashville-opera.md"]
slug = "rachele-schmiege"
title = "Rachele Schmiege"
website = "https://www.racheleschmiege.com/"
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url = "https://twitter.com/racheleschmiege"
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url = "https://www.facebook.com/rachele.schmiege"

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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.

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."

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.”

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 Barne](/scene/people/stefan-barner/)r.