Australian soprano Rachelle Durkin is one of opera's most striking young artists performing at major houses worldwide to critical acclaim.

"The spirited, bright-toned Rachelle Durkin brought tremendous vivacity to her role as the evil sorceress Armida" says The Australian, "demonstrating accuracy, agility, and a strong upper register in her many florid coloratura showpieces." A frequent guest of the New York Metropolitan Opera, Ms. Durkin was most recently featured in the 2009 international HD simulcast of La Cenerentola to audiences worldwide (to be released on DVD).

A much sought after interpreter of a wide range of repertoire spanning from the baroque to modern masterpieces. Successes of the 2008-2009 season include Miss Schlessen in the new production of Satyagraha for the MET, Angelica in Handel’s Orlando and Donna Anna for Opera Australia, Kumuhda in John Adams’ A Flowering Tree with the Perth International Arts Festival, Gilda in Rigoletto with State Opera of Australia, Constanze in The Abduction from the Seraglio with Hawaii Opera Theater, as well as concerts with every major Australian Symphony Orchestra and recitals across the USA and Australia.

For the 2009-2010 season and beyond Ms. Durkin returns to Opera Australia as Fiordiligi in the new Jim Sharman production of Cosi fan tutte, the title role in La Sonnambula with West Australian Opera, Tytania in Baz Luhrmann's groundbreaking production of Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream, and as the Countess in a new production of Le Nozze di Figaro both with Opera Australia. Future seasons see her return to the Metropolitan Opera for Don Pasquale and Glass's Satyagraha as well as Opera Australia and West Australian Opera.

Fall 2006 saw her debut as Gilda in Verdi's Rigoletto with the opera in Bilbao, Spain. In spring 2006 she performed in the Metropolitan Opera's Parsifal (First Flower Maiden) and at the Joseph Volpe Gala which was nationally televised. She then made her debut with the Auckland Philharmonia in Mozart's Exsultate Jubilate and as Madame Herz in Mozart's Der Schauspieldirektor. She then made her debut with the Hong Kong Philharmonic for their New Year's Concerts followed by Beethoven 9th with Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. She also recently performed the Beethoven 9th Symphony and Bruckner's Te Deum with the Greensboro Symphony.

After winning the 2001 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Ms. Durkin joined the Metropolitan Opera's Lindeman Young Artists Development Program. She made her Metropolitan Opera debut as the First Handmaiden in Sly and has subsequently appeared as Clorinda in La Cenerentola, Young Girl and Naked Virgin in Moses und Aaron, Barena in Jenufa, Teresa in Benvenuto Cellini, Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Masha in Pique Dame, Elvira in L'Italiana in Algeri, and First Flower Maiden in Parsifal, which she performed at the Salzburg Festival as part of the Met tour with Maestro Levine.

In the past two season, Ms. Durkin performed a variety of repertoire including the title role in Alcina, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Armida in Rinaldo and Countess Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro with Opera Australia, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with West Australian Opera and with the Lyric Opera of San Antonio, Cunegonde in Candide with the Bellingham Festival of Music and the Perth International Arts Festival, Miss Schlessen in Satyagrah, Frasquita in Carmen, First Flower Maiden in Parsifal, and Clorinda in La Cenerentola with the Metropolitan Opera, and her Carnegie Hall debut as the Soprano Soloist in Handel's Messiah.

Other recent acclaimed portrayals include Donna Anna with Opera Queensland, appearing in concert with Jose Carreras in Perth, and Corinna in Chicago Opera Theater's production of Il Viaggio a Reims, about which the Chicago Tribune exclaimed, "Ms. Durkin.... juggled the men in her life as easily as she juggled Rossini's virtuoso vocal writing; her gleaming soprano made a noble effect in the poetess' final eulogy."

Ms. Durkin is also a distinguished oratorio artist with repertoire ranging from the early works of Handel, Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven to the more recent works of Bernstein, Gershwin, and Sondheim. She has appeared with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, the Baroque Consort.

Ms. Durkin's recordings include recitals for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in their "Sunday Live" and "Young Australia" programs, and she has also been heard in the Metropolitan Opera Broadcast of Sly, Moses and Aron, Carmen, La Cenerentola, and Satyagraha, in ABC Radio National Broadcasts with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and in Lieder Recitals, and has appeared twice on A&E's "Breakfast with the Arts".