RACHEL CALLOWAY : MEZZO-SOPRANO

As an internationally recognized leading interpreter of contemporary and modern music, mezzo-soprano Rachel Calloway brings versatility and compelling insight to stages worldwide. Her work has been praised by the New York Times for “penetrating clarity” and “considerable depth of expression” and by Opera News for her “adept musicianship and dramatic flair.”

Season highlights include Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass with the Oratorio Society of New York in Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center Jukebox New Music Series, performances with Duo Cortona (duos for voice and violin with Ari Streisfeld) on the Resonant Bodies Festival (New York) and the Contemporary Undercurrent of Song Project (Princeton), the SONIC Festival with JACK Quartet, Bernstein’s Arias and Barcarolles at the Copland House, the music of John Zorn at National Sawdust and the Guggenheim, collaborations with the Amernet Quartet at the Kennedy Center, University of Nevada Las Vegas, and Miami Jewish Music Series, and appearances in New York and Pittsburgh with the new music vocal ensemble Ekmeles.

Ms. Calloway’s Carnegie Hall debut in the roles of Dominant and Musicologist in Steven Stucky and Jeremy Denk’s The Classical Style with Robert Spano conducting brought recognition from the New York Times praising her singing as “rich-voiced.” Through this engagement she became a finalist for the internationally recognized Warner Music Prize. She recently performed with Alarm Will Sound in the world premiere of The Hunger by Donnacha Dennehy in an unscheduled appearance last season.

Recent engagements include Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the Omaha Symphony under the direction of Thomas Wilkins, Thomas Adès Totentanz (cover) with the New York Philharmonic, the world premiere of Earth by Man Fang at the Southern Exposure New Music Series, the world premiere of Jeff Myers’ Requiem Aeternam with JACK Quartet at Trinity Wall Street, the music of John Zorn at The Cloisters, and the music of Helmut Lachenmann at Miller Theater.

Ms. Calloway debuted with Ensemble Modern in Frankfurt, Germany, singing Alban Berg’s Der Wein under the auspices of Alte Oper for a national radio broadcast by Heissicher Rundfunk. She sang the world premiere of Mohammed Fairouz’s Sumeida’s Song in the inaugural PROTOTYPE Festival in New York and Lembit Beecher’s I Have No Stories to Tell You with Gotham Chamber Opera at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ms. Calloway has performed with leading contemporary ensembles including Ensemble Signal, Alarm Will Sound, Talea, JACK Quartet, Ekmeles, and Continuum. She has collaborated with today’s foremost composers including: Gabriela Lena Frank, Georg Friederich Haas, Unsuk Chin, Steven Stucky, Oliver Knussen, Nico Muhly, and Donnacha Dennehy.

Ms. Calloway has performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Series (Green Umbrella), Berkeley Symphony, Ojai Festival, San Francisco Girls’ Chorus, BAM Next Wave Festival, Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, Cal Performances, and Lincoln Center Festival. She has collaborated with the Amernet Quartet, Boston’s Chameleon Arts Ensemble, Dolce Suono Ensemble, and the Biava Quartet . She made her European operatic debut as Mrs. Grose in The Turn of the Screw at Opéra de Reims, Athénée Théâtre Louis-Jovet (Paris) and Opéra de Lille. She has performed with Lorin Maazel at the Castleton Festival in Virginia, Tulsa Opera, Central City Opera, Gotham Chamber Opera, and the Glimmerglass Festival. She has appeared at the Kennedy Center under the auspices of Pro Musica Hebraica. Ms. Calloway is a founding member of Shir Ami, an ensemble dedicated to the preservation and performances of lost and unknown Jewish art music.

Ms. Calloway is a United States Presidential Scholar in the Arts. She has received awards from the Metropolitan Opera National Council and first prize in the Arts Recognition and Talent Search. As winner of the Eisenberg-Fried Concerto Competition, she performed Ravel’s Shéhérazade conducted by George Manahan.

Ms. Calloway holds degrees from The Juilliard School (BM) and Manhattan School of Music (MM). She joined the faculty of the Cortona Sessions for New Music (Italy) in 2014 and this summer will be a master teacher at New Music on the Point in Vermont and Juilliard Summer Arts in Geneva, Switzerland. She can be heard on Albany Records, Tzadik Records, BCMF Records, and Toccata Classics.

www.rachelcalloway.com