Biography

Career
Gillian Rae-Walker is in demand throughout the UK as an oratorio soloist. Her career began however, in the field of opera in Germany with the Ludwigsburg International Festival production of Semele, produced by Marco Arturo Marelli and broadcast on German national TV. Nearer home Gillian has toured and worked with companies such as Opera East, Regency Opera, Surrey Opera and the Pocket Opera Company as well as performing at various festivals. Stage roles include Queen of the Night, High Priestess, First Lady and Antonia and she has sung a wide range of opera in concert.

Also in Germany, Gillian Rae-Walker rapidly gained acclaim in the field of oratorio and  appeared as a guest soloist in a Bach/Haydn concert with the Stuttgart Opera Orchestra, as well as with choral societies throughout the country. She went on to give a series of London recitals with violin and piano as well as solo recitals, featuring songs and arias by Handel, Mozart and Puccini in particular.

More recently she has worked extensively in oratorio throughout the UK, performing to considerable acclaim. Some of her recent engagements include the Verdi Requiem at Exeter Cathedral,the Messiah at Huddersfield Town Hall and the Music Hall, Aberdeen, Vaughan Williams' Sea Symphony at the Central Halls, Edinburgh and the Younger Hall, St. Andrews, Beethoven's Missa Solemnis at Perth City Hall, Elgar's Kingdom at Ayr Town Hall, Fanshawe's African Sanctus with the Yorkshire Philharmonic Chorus at Wakefield Cathedral, Handel's Judas Maccabeus at St. Paul's, Knightsbridge, London, Orff's Carmina Burana with the Grimsby Philharmonic, Rutter's Magnificat and Jenkins' The Armed Man at the Medina Theatre, Newport and a concert of Vivaldi, Purcell and Handel with The Chamber Ensemble of London at St. Martin-in-the-Fields.

Training
Born in Edinburgh, Gillian studied German, French and music at St. Andrews University, before training full-time at the Stuttgart Conservatory (voice and piano) and Stuttgart Opera School. She undertook further operatic training at Morley and Abbey Opera and at masterclasses, where she worked on the roles of Zdenka, Gilda, Oscar, le Feu, Carolina and Elvira with the following producers: Stephen Medcalf, Tom Hawkes, Richard Gregson and John Abulafia.

She has also taken part in masterclasses at Lucerne International Festival, at Glyndbourne and elsewhere, where she has worked with eminent singers and coaches, including Elisabeth Grümmer, Ryland Davies, Neil Jenkins, Laura Sarti, Graham Clark, Jonathon Hindon, Paul Hamburger and Malcom Martineau.

Past singing teachers include Elisabeth Grümmer, Vera Rozsa, Ryland Davies and Esther Salaman. She has also benefited from regular work with a number of outstanding coaches: Mark Packwood (ROH), David Roblou, Alastair Dawes(ROH), Stephen Wilder (ROH) and Gordon Stewart. Her present vocal coach is Robert Dean.