Soprano Rachel Cleland's voice has been hailed as 'full, florid, and astonishing' and her performances praised as 'resplendent' and 'visceral'.  Her recent seasons have included Leonora in Verdi's Il Trovatore, Elsa in Wagner's Lohengrin, Fiordiligi in Cosi Fan Tutte (Mozart), Donna Anna in Don Giovanni (Mozart) and Violetta in La Traviata. Rachel was thrilled to sing her third Beethoven's 9th Symphony with the Etobicoke Philharmonic Orchestra - a concert in which she also sang a boisterous rendition of Rule Britannia.  

Though a natural on stage, Ms. Cleland is equally passionate about music education and performance coaching. Rachel has taught with the Canadian Opera Company, Centauri Summer Arts, We are One Jazz, Queen's University (Belfast), York University (Ontario), the BYP Music Festival (Kilkeel) and in independent studios. As an educator, Rachel believes that children and youth need a chance to express themselves artistically and builds her curriculum to engage the four major learning styles - spatial, auditory, linguistic and kinesthetic. Her encouraging, positive demeanor coupled with her expectation of hard work and respect, make her a sought after teacher, coach and curriculum creator. Rachel was able to share her excitement and love of music with children experiencing poverty over her 10 years teaching with DARE Arts. During her time there, she taught 17th, 18th and 19th Century music, assisted on Stage Combat workshops with Fight Director, Jennifer Parr, conducted the Dixon Glee choir and was Assistant Conductor and Vocal Teacher for the 'We are One' Jazz Project. 

Rachel is thrilled to be entering her 7th season as Artistic Director of the Milton Choristers and to be the affiliated Music Director of the newly formed Grand River Opera. 

 

​"Rachel Cleland, who played the role of Elsa, the innocent ingénue, has a warm, bright full-lyric soprano instrument which was quite suited to this musical style. Her evening gown was also magnificent."  - Lohengrin


"Rachel has a big powerful voice full of passion" - La Boheme


“Rachel Cleland had great moments, especially in the last act, and was very good dramatically” - Il Trovatore

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“The climax of Ms Cleland's performance was her astonishing 'Dulcissime'. This very capable young soprano summoned up a performance which was florid, full and agile, resonating long after her final note had sounded”  - Carmina Burana