Maria Rachelle Gerodias / 1
Maria Rachelle Gerodias
Soprano
Maria Rachelle Gerodias, “Ten Outstanding Young Men” and “The Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service” awardee, is one of the Philippines’ most sought after singers, regularly performing to large audiences throughout the Philippines and abroad. Ms. Gerodias is also one of the country’s most award-winning sopranos, having won 1st Prize in the Civic Morning Musicals Vocal Competition in Syracuse, New York and being in the Aliw Awards Hall of Fame for Best Female Classical Performer.
Ms. Gerodias received her Master’s Degree in Vocal Performance and Vocal Literature from the famed Eastman School of Music, in New York; she holds a Professional Diploma in Operatic studies from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. In the Philippines, she graduated ‘cum laude’ from the University of Santo Tomas Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Professor Gloria Coronel.
Equally dazzling in her interpretations of songs, oratorios, musicals and the Filipino Art song (Kundiman) genre, Ms. Gerodias has collaborated with some of today’s most celebrated artists. Her performances with top musicians in the Philippines and abroad include chamber concerts with Peter Schmidle of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra; she has also worked with respected conductors Georg Tintner, Piero Gamba, Oscar Yatco, Ryan Cayabyab, Yaacov Bergman, and Christoph Eschenbach among many others. Her collaboration with MIRELLA FRENI makes her the only Filipina to have ever worked with the legendary opera diva.
Additional international performances receiving high acclaim include Ms. Gerodias’s April 2008 European Debut at the VOLKSOPER WIEN in Vienna, Austria, where she sang the role of Liu in Puccini’s Turandot. She also performed in the Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra’s 2009 New Year Concert, held at the National Theater of Sarajevo, under Uros Lajovic. She performed at the Pacific Music Festival in Japan as Despina in Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte under the baton of Christoph Eschenbach. Singapore audiences were captivated by her rendition of Kathy in The Student Prince, Micaëla in Carmen, Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro and Liu in Turandot.
She represented the Philippines as one of the featured soloists of the China National Symphony Orchestra in Beijing for the 2009 Asia-Europe Culture and Arts Festival. She also performed with the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra for the World Expo in Shanghai.
She performed with the L’Orchestra Citta di Firenze under the baton of Maestro Castriota and In October 2010, Ms. Gerodias joined an international cast of singers performing the lead role in a production of Il Barbiere di Siviglia for the Daegu International Opera Festival 2010 in South Korea making her the first Filipina to perform at the Daegu Opera House. Her most recent operatic triumphs were the roles of Violetta in Verdi’s La Traviata at the Cultural Center of the Philippines and Zerlina in Mozart’s Don Giovanni at the 2012 Daegu International Opera Festival in Korea.
Along with her busy performance schedule, Ms. Gerodias coaches singing at the prestigious University of Santo Tomas Conservatory of Music. She is also a former member of the University of the Philippines College of Music Voice Faculty. Furthermore, Ms. Gerodias can be heard on several CD recordings made with renowned Filipino and international artists. She has recently released her first solo album, “Philippine Art Songs” with Dr. Raul Sunico.
Rachelle is a member of the Zonta Club of Manila and the UN Women. She has recently established the Rachelle Gerodias Music Foundation Inc., a scholarship foundation that supports the formal education of underprivileged but talented musicians geared towards serving in the Unida Evangelical Church Music Ministry.