“Rarely have I come across as talented and noteworthy a person as Rachel DeShon… Her talent, coupled with her desire to learn, and her stick-to-itiveness are all unusual assets. Above all this, I found Rachel to be a delight to work with.”
— Marvin Hamlisch
With a voice that has been called “undeniably fantastic”, Rachel DeShon was the winner of Marvin Hamlisch’s Search for a Star competition with the Seattle Symphony and was a guest artist on his national tour. Rachel is at home with symphonies, opera houses, theatre productions and even circus tents. Rachel has proven herself to be an extremely versatile performer and strives to use her voice in exciting and dynamic ways.
She’s performed with Marvin Hamlisch, Joan Baez, Ann Wilson, Thelma Houston, Martha Davis, Norman Durkee, Lilianne Montevecchi, and Frank Ferrante. She’s appeared as a guest artist with the Boston POPS!, Seattle Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, North Carolina Symphony, and at Singapore’s Esplanade Hall. Additional performance highlights include: Florence Foster Jenkins in Souvenir: A Fantasia on the Life of Florence Foster Jenkins, Donna in Mamma Mia!, Cunegonde in Candide, The Diva at Teatro ZinZanni, and in the Broadway bound revival of The Secret Garden at the 5th Avenue Theatre. She made her debut with the Seattle Men’s Chorus in their Legacy concert series, featuring the two critically acclaimed works, I Am Harvey Milk and Tyler’s Suite, appearing with Andrew Lippa as Harvey Milk. Rachel also premiered Seattle Opera’s production of Our Earth, a cycle of operas created for children, performed in partnership with the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra and Seattle Opera’s Children’s Chorus.
She was recently featured on Thelma Houston’s new song Love is the Power and released the exotica tribute album Taking Yma Sumac One Step Further with San Diego’s Creepxotica featuring her multi-octave range. She also has developed the solo cabaret show Look for the Silver Lining specifically designed to be performed in hospitals, nursing homes, long-term care facilities and other nontraditional venues.
Rachel is currently embarking on new territory in reimagining Emmy Award Winner Tim Noah’s music for Anything is Possible — a live, interactive musical celebration designed to captivate, empower and encourage children and adults to listen to their hearts, trust their intuition and believe in their dreams.
She received the Encouragement Award for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, won First Place in the NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing) Tri-State (IL, MO, IA) and State Competitions in Illinois and Washington, Western Illinois University Concerto Competition Winner, Seattle Civic Opera Guild Helen Jensen Award, The City Opera Company Young Opera Singers Competition, PAFE (Performing Arts Festival Eastside) in Classical and Musical Theatre Overall Excellence in Voice.
Rachel has been awarded numerous grants and artistic residencies and is beyond thankful for the support she has received from the Canada Council of the Arts, Banff Center of the Arts and Creativity, BC Arts Council, ArtStarts, Kootenay Regional Arts Council (CKCA), Columbia Basin Trust, City of Nelson, Nelson United Church, Nelson’s Civic Theatre, and The Narrow’s Artist Retreat.
She is a BFA cum laude graduate of Western Illinois University.
Rachel has also served in various capacities as teacher, arts administrator, producer, and director of non-profits and post secondary educational institutions.