Bio
Soprano Rachael Marino is making her mark across international stages, being noted for her dramatic versatility as well as her “beautifully soaring” voice. She has been hailed as “elegant” and “expressive” while also praised for “managing the difficult trifecta of being at once poignant, funny and a thrilling singer.”
Rachael recently appeared as one of her signature roles, Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni) with St. Petersburg Opera. She made her Wagnerian debut in the role of Adriano (Rienzi) with New Century Opera and covered two pinnacle roles of the French repertoire: Marguerite (Faust) with St. Pete Opera and Juliette (Roméo et Juliette) with Opera Tampa. She made her international debut in China with the ISING! International Young Artists Festival, where she was the first Westerner to portray Huniu in excerpts from Guo Wenjing’s Rickshaw Boy in such prestigious venues as the Suzhou Grand Theatre and the Tianqiao Theatre Beijing.
Other recent appearances include Mimí (La bohéme), Musetta (La bohème), Second Lady (Die Zauberflöte), Marschallin (Der Rosenkavalier), Prima Cercatrice (Suor Angelica), Nella (Gianni Schicchi), Magda (La rondine), Nedda (I Pagliacci), and Dinah (Trouble in Tahiti) with companies including Miami Music Festival, Manchester Music Festival, Orlando Philharmonic, Savannah Philharmonic, and Opera Orlando.
As a Festival Artist with the Savannah Voice Festival, she covered Donna Elvira and appeared in concerts singing everything from Gershwin tunes to Gerhilde (Die Walküre). As an Opera Tampa New Artist, she performed The Page (Rigoletto), and covered Mercédès (Carmen) and Second Lady (Die Zauberflöte). As a Young Artist with Pittsburgh Festival Opera, she appeared as Mrs. Segstrom (A Little Night Music), premiered the role of Agent Kim (Roger Zahab’s Presidential Suite), and covered Nicklausse (Les Contes d’Hoffmann).
Equally at home on the concert stage, Ms. Marino has been a featured performer at gala and holiday concerts with various companies, including most recently St. Pete Opera’s Seasonal Sparkle concert. She was the featured soprano in a benefit concert sharing the stage alongside Todd Thomas and Peter Volpe in upstate New York. She gave a solo recital as part of Opera Orlando’s Opera in the Park series. She has been a featured soloist in various oratorio and concert works including Handel Messiah, Haydn’s cantata Arianna a Naxos, Schubert Mass in G, and Vivaldi Gloria, among others.
Rachael has won First Place in the South Florida Lyric Opera Competition, First Place in the St. Petersburg Opera Idol Competition, and Honorable Mention in the Florida Suncoast Opera Guild Competition. She was also a semi-finalist in the Mary Jacobs Smith Singers of the Year Competition, the Brava! Opera Theater and James M. Collier Competition, and the Cooper-Bing Vocal Competition. She received her Master of Music from Boston University and her Bachelor of Arts from Florida State University.