Bio
Rachel Carlson enjoys a versatile career as a conductor, soloist, chamber ensemble singer, and voice teacher. Dr. Carlson is Director of Choral and Vocal Activities at Kean University in Union, NJ, where she conducts the Kean University Concert Choir and Community Chorale and teaches Aural Skills, Conducting, and Voice. She previously served as the Director of Choral Activities at Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, WV, where she conducted the Shepherd University Chamber Singers, Camerata Soprano/Alto choir, and Masterworks Chorale and taught Choral Methods, Conducting, and Voice. She founded Six Degree Singers, a community choir based in Silver Spring, MD, in 2009 and currently serves as Past President of the MD/DC chapter of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA).
Dr. Carlson presents workshops and masterclasses in schools throughout the region and is in demand as a clinician, adjudicator, presenter, and guest conductor. She has been invited to lead honor choirs as a guest conductor in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Delaware. In 2014, she was nominated for a Wammie (Washington Area Music Award) for best Classical Conductor/Director. Dr. Carlson has been published multiple times in the Choral Journal and has been invited to present her research at state, regional, and national conferences of ACDA, NCCO, MMEA, and NJMEA.
Dr. Carlson has toured the country and the world as a freelance professional choral singer and soprano soloist with many of the nation’s top professional ensembles, including the Oregon Bach Festival, True Concord Voices and Orchestra, Vox Humana, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Washington Master Chorale, Washington Bach Consort, Conspirare, Manhattan Chorale, Washington Revels, and Germany’s Bach Ensemble Helmuth Rilling.
Dr. Carlson holds Bachelor’s degrees in Vocal Performance and Music Education from the University of Maryland, a Master’s degree in Choral Conducting from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a DMA in Choral Conducting at the University of Maryland.