The “rich girl” who is careless with hearts is a trope, and a less-skilled actor could fall into the stereotype trap. Blaustein stayed far from that pitfall.
-Opera Wire
About Rachel
Praised for her "crystalline soprano and admirable control and grace" (Opera Today), Rachel Blaustein, a 2022 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition Grand Finalist, is poised as a bright and up-and-coming artist, with a moving sensibility to drama and text.
Ms. Blaustein's exciting 25/26 season kicked off in her role and company debut as the title character in Viardot’s Cendrillon with Opera Montana, followed by her appearance at the Art of Song Festival at the Colburn School, curated by Mo. James Conlon and Kevin Murphy. She makes her debut with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra as the soprano soloist in Handel’s Messiah and returns to Chicago Opera Theater to cover Mistress Ford in Salieri’s Falstaff. In 2026, she revives the role of Hodel in Crystal Manich’s production of Fiddler on the Roof with Austin Opera, a role she recently debuted with Cincinnati Opera. She also joins Opera Theatre of Saint Louis for the workshop of Safe Haven (Tobias Picker & Arryeh Stollman) and makes a highly anticipated return to Spoleto Festival USA as Laetitia in The Old Maid and the Thief and as the soprano soloist in Samuel Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with the Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra.
Last season, Ms. Blaustein made a thrilling jump-in debut with Spoleto Festival USA, where she was called in at the eleventh hour to sing an “evocative” Miss Jessel in The Turn of the Screw for three out of four performances (CultureSouth). She made her role and house debut with Cincinnati Opera as Hodel in a new production of Fiddler on the Roof and joined the prestigious Ravinia Festival Steans Institute as a 2025 Vocal Fellow. She made her Austin Opera debut as Jocelyn Jordan in The Manchurian Candidate, appeared with the South Florida Symphony Orchestra in Handel’s Messiah, and returned to Carnegie Hall for Erica Glenn’s premiere of The Worldwide Requiem.
In the ‘23/24 season, Rachel made her role debut as Gilda in Rigoletto with Opera Delaware and Opera Baltimore, earning praise from Tim Smith (Baltimore Sun) for her “lovely, pearly thread of tone that helped her get to the very heart of the character.” She sang the title role of Rusalka with Pacific Opera Project, and joined The Metropolitan Opera for the workshop of Mason Bates’ The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay in the role of Sarah Kavalier. She appeared in concert with Opera Omaha and in recital with Academy Art Museum, and she made her debut with Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra in Handel's Messiah. She also made her Carnegie Hall debut as the soprano soloist in Carmina Burana, appeared in Ravinia Festival’s Die Zauberflöte as Second Spirit under the baton of Marin Alsop and was a semi-finalist in the 2023 Paris Opera Competition.
Additional recent engagements include her debut with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis as Ruth in Tobias Picker’s world premiere Awakenings (covering Pamina in The Magic Flute), Laura Brown in The Metropolitan Opera’s workshop of The Hours, Nannetta in Falstaff with Maryland Lyric Opera, and Countess Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro with Annapolis Opera. Ms. Blaustein made her Santa Fe Opera debut in 2021 as Autonoe in John Corigliano’s The Lord of Cries. She reprised and recorded the role with Boston Modern Orchestra Project and Pentatone Music which went on to receive a 2024 Grammy Nomination for Best Opera Recording. She originated the role of Micòl Finzi-Contini in Ricky Ian Gordon’s world premiere The Garden of the Finzi-Continis with New York City Opera, for which she received rave reviews. The New York Times remarked she "brought a sweetness to Micòl that persevered through her character's capriciousness," and BroadwayWorld celebrated her "strong impression with her lyric sound and smart presentation."
Previous engagements of note include The Monument (cvr) in Kamala Sankaram's Rise as part of the world premiere Written in Stone with Washington National Opera, Lauretta (Gianni Schicchi) with Tulsa Opera, and appearances with Chicago Opera Theater as Frasquita (Carmen) alongside Jamie Barton and Stephanie Blythe and Queer Kid in the Midwest premiere of Kamala Sankaram and Jerre Dye's Taking Up Serpents. She also covered the role of Kenzie in Lyric Opera of Chicago's Lyric Unlimited touring production of Earth to Kenzie.
On the competition and award front, she is the recipient of both the 2025 Alumni Excellence Award from her alma mater, Hofstra University, and the Farwell Trust Award from the Musicians Club of Women. Overseas, she competed in the second round of the 62 Concurs Tenor Viñas Competition in Barcelona, Spain in 2025 and was a semi-finalist in the Paris Opera Competition in 2023. She took second place in the 2021 Partners for the Arts Competition and has received numerous Regional and Encouragement Awards from the Metropolitan Opera Competition before earning her Grand Finalist title in 2022.
A native of Olney, Maryland, Rachel is a dual German-American citizen in possession of an active EU passport. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Voice with a minor in drama from Hofstra University and a Master of Music from the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University.
Best among the women, however, was newcomer Rachel Blaustein, who made a sensational company debut as Nannetta. The radiant young soprano... floated velvet-gloved high notes in this crucial role. She flirted innocently in the stolen moments with her lover, Fenton, and made a resplendent fairy queen in the opera’s gorgeous final scene.
-Washington Classical Review
