The American soprano Rachel Willis-Sørensen has signed an exclusive contract with Sony Classical. Her first album for the company, 'Rachel', due out on April 8, is an arias collection including roles by Verdi, Mozart, Puccini, Dvořák and Lehár that she has performed to acclaim in many of the world’s great opera houses. For ‘O soave fanciulla’ from La bohème, Willis-Sørensen is joined by the tenor Jonas Kaufmann. The album features the Orchestra del Teatro Carlo Felice di Genova conducted by Frédéric Chaslin (who conducted last year’s Gramophone Award-winning Verdi arias album by Ludovic Tézier, also for Sony Classical). Other guests on the album are the soprano Olivia Kahler and tenor Giovanni Sala.

Sony Classical has pre-released the Song to the Moon from Dvořák's Rusalka which you can listen to below:

Commenting on the signing, the soprano said that ‘I have dreamed of recording an album since I knew such a thing existed. There are not words enough to share my thrill and honour of recording with this prestigious label some of the dearest music to my heart and sharing it with you!.' Sony Classical's President Per Hauber said 'Rachel's unique voice and outstanding stage presence are simply remarkable. During the recording sessions for Jonas Kaufmann’s Vienna album with the Vienna Philharmonic, she also enthusiastically excited us with her sheer incredible linguistic talent. We are now looking forward to releasing her first solo album and joining her on an exciting recording career.'

Willis-Sørensen's impressive CV includes first prize at the 2014 Operalia competition and at the 2011 Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition, and she was a winner of the 2010 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. She holds both Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Brigham Young University and is an alumna of the Houston Grand Opera Studio. She has also performed at Buckingham Palace for HRH Prince Charles’s birthday in 2018.

Forthcoming opera engagements include productions in Frankfurt (Lohengrin), Hamburg (Rusalka), Berlin (with Jonas Kaufmann at his outdoor concert at Berlin’s Waldbühne) and Chicago (Don Carlos).