Biography
Welsh-American soprano Rachel Schutz joined the faculty of Ithaca College in 2018 after serving as a lecturer at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. She has taught masterclasses around Asia and the United States, and has also taught high-school voice students at the Punahou School of Music and privately. As a voice teacher, Dr. Schutz is committed to fostering both healthy technique and artistic maturity, whether that be in a masterclass setting or over longer stretches of time in the private studio. She is also a deep believer in the need to prepare students appropriately for a 21st century career in music, and consequently, has presented workshops, masterclasses, and presentations on such topics as practice techniques, programming and production, music psychology and philosophy, entrepreneurship, and arts and social justice. Dr. Schutz's students have won leading roles in IC's opera productions, been finalists in IC's concerto competition, and have consistently moved on to exciting new opportunities, including K-12 teaching positions, field-specific jobs, signing with agencies, and acceptance into top graduate programs including Boston Conservatory, New England Conservatory, Mannes School of Music, Manhattan School of Music, Colorado State University, Stony Brook University, and London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts.
Dr. Schutz is also an active and passionate performer having sung extensively around the United States, Asia and Europe. She has performed a range of roles from Mozart's Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), to Philip Glass's Lise (Les enfants terribles) and Sondheim's Johanna (Sweeney Todd) with companies such as Opera Ithaca, Opera Paralèlle, Hawai'i Opera Theatre, and Stockton Opera. Dr. Schutz has also been heard at Carnegie Hall's Stern, Weill, and Zankel Halls, the Ravinia Festival, the Ojai Festival, the Tanglewood Festival, the Yellow Barn Festival, with the Hawai'i and Riverside Symphony Orchestras, with DCINY, with the Boston Pops Orchestra, and at venues around China, Taiwan, Korea, and Thailand. As an avid supporter of new music, she can be heard on "Elements," an Albany Records album of contemporary American music, and has worked with many composers including Phillip Glass, George Crumb, Milton Babbitt, Jonathan Dove, William Bolcom, Libby Larsen, John Musto, Brett Dean, and Augusta Read-Thomas.
Dr. Schutz holds a BA in Music from Stony Brook University, received her MM degree from Bard College, completed an MA in Linguistics at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, and in 2016 received her DMA from Stony Brook University.
Phone: (607) 274 1075
Email: rschutz@ithaca.edu
Office: Whalen 2301
Black Lives Matter
The voice area at IC stands against racism in all of its forms, and specifically as it relates to the BLM movement. We wish to center black voices, culture, and music in our curriculum; be lasting allies with our black colleagues and students in specific and intentional ways; acknowledge mistakes made in the past: specifically the silencing black voices, and the moments when we have not recognized contributions; and acknowledge that the immediate social justice movement needs to inspire introspection, long term conversations, and an immediate action plan.