Rachel is a Junior Fellow in Accompaniment at the Royal Northern College of Music, a role that she started in September 2017. She studied accompaniment with David Jones at the RNCM, and has received regular coaching from Julius Drake. During her studies, she won several prizes for piano accompaniment, and she has performed as an accompanist throughout the UK.
In August 2018, Rachel was invited to attend Oxenfoord International Summer School as a receipient of the Hester Dickson Duo Prize alongside Ted Black (tenor).
Rachel was chosen as a Leeds Lieder Young Artist for the spring 2018 festival, alongside duo partner Peter Edge (baritone).
In 2018, Rachel was a finalist in the Patricia Routledge National English Song Competition and the British Art-Song Competition.
Rachel has recently explored the art of repetiteur playing by working with RNCM students for a performance of scenes from Mozart's Don Giovanni and Menotti's The Old Maid and the Thief. Previously, she worked for the RNCM and Leeds University as repetiteur for new compositions commissioned by the Performing the Jewish Archive project, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
Choir accompaniment
Rachel enjoys accompanying choirs, a passion which started as she played for RNCM Symphony Chorus and Chamber Choir in preparation for their performance of Penderecki's Seventh Symphony at the Bridgewater Hall in June 2015.
Rachel has often accompanied singing and instrumental students for ABRSM exams, and is always happy to work with pupils in the weeks leading up to the exam to ensure extra security in the student's performance. She provides a very calm presence in what can be a stressful situation!
Orchestral piano
Rachel has taken part in several projects involving orchestral piano and celeste. Most recently, she featured on the celeste in the RNCM Wind Orchestra recording of Spanish Music for Chandos Records (2017). She regularly plays chamber organ and orchestral piano in concert for King Edward's Music Society, Macclesfield, and, in 2019, she will play orchestral piano with the Black Dyke Band in a performance of Philip Wilby's The Holy Face (9 June 2019). She played orchestral piano for RNCM Symphony Orchestra's performance of the virtuosic Jolivet Trumpet Concerto in 2016 (soloist: Illiam Quane). In 2015, she was the pianist in RNCM Opera Orchestra for the College's pre-Christmas run of Kurt Weil's Street Scene. Rachel also has experience of playing in pit orchestras for musicals from her student days at Oxford University (including Kiss me Kate and Into the Woods), and has been booked to do this kind of work by schools.