Rachelle Jonck
Adjunct Faculty
- Mailing Address: 101 Walnut Lane, Princeton, NJ 08540
Rachelle Jonck received her
musical training at the Conservatory of the University
of Stellenbosch in South
Africa. After initially training and
performing as a concert pianist, she discovered the joy of working with other
musicians, especially singers, and decided to focus on vocal accompaniment.
Simultaneously nurturing an interest in musicology, she received her degree
majoring in both piano and music sociology.
After completing her studies,
Rachelle joined Cape Town Opera as rehearsal pianist and vocal coach. She also
taught at the Opera School
of the University of Cape
Town. In 1993 she moved to Pretoria
as chorus master and assistant conductor at the State Theater Opera. She was
awarded a FNB/Vita award for her contribution to opera in South
Africa and in 1998 received the Nederburg Opera Prize – South
Africa’s premier opera award. Throughout her
operatic career in her home country she maintained a busy concert schedule
accompanying local and visiting singers and instrumentalists. She was an
official accompanist of the International String and Vocal Competition in Pretoria
(hosted by the University of South
Africa.)
In 1998 Rachelle moved to New
York City as Head Coach and Assistant Conductor of Bel Canto at Caramoor (with
Will Crutchfield) – a position she still holds. Balancing her love for opera
and song literature she maintains a busy vocal coaching studio and enjoys
recital collaborations with her singers. Rachelle works with a wide variety of
singers, including established professionals whose careers take them to the
largest opera houses of the world, and younger singers still on the verge of a
professional career. While her range of repertoire is wide, she has made a name
for herself in New York City as a
specialist Italian style coach - Handel, Mozart and the bel canto masters,
including Verdi. She has served on the faculty of Manhattan School of Music as
Head Vocal Coach.
In addition to regular concerts
at the Caramoor Festival, Rachelle’s recital appearances in the United States
include Weill Recital Hall, the Bard Festival, the Monadnock Music Festival
(Peterborough, NH), Music Mountain (Falls Village, CT), Van Cliburn Concerts
(Fort Worth, TX), National Gallery Recitals (Washington, DC), Art Song of
Williamsburg (VA) and the Dame Myra Hess broadcast concert series (Chicago,
IL).
Also a budding young conductor, she
made her debut conducting the Orchestra of St Luke’s in collaboration with the
David Parsons Dance Company soon after her arrival in the United States. In
1999 she worked with this highly acclaimed orchestra again in collaboration
with Pascal Rioult for New York Children’s Free Opera and Dance at the Kaye
Playhouse. In January of 2000 Rachelle returned to South
Africa to conduct Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Spier
Festival in Stellenbosch. In May of the same year she made her operatic
conducting debut in New York City
conducting the Orchestra of St. Luke’s in their production of Bizet’s Le Docteur Miracle at the 92nd
Street Y. For Caramoor she conducted Mozart’s Così fan tutte as well as Pauline
Viardot’s Cendrillon.
