After years of extensive study in dance, drama and music, Australian soprano Rachael Stellacci moved to Italy after winning the Franco Schiavoni Memorial Scholarship. She began her classical vocal studies at the Maggio Musicale Formazione (run by the Florence State Theatre), specialising in Ancient Music. In 2013, she was one of only three students accepted into the undergraduate degree in Opera Singing at the prestigious Conservatory of Bologna, graduating with full marks in 2016. During her conservatory tenure, she performed across landmark Italian venues, including music by Berio at the State Theatre of Bologna, concerts for the Florentine Chamber Orchestra, the Lucca Opera Festival, and in Berlin.

In 2016, Rachael was selected to perform Abigaille in Verdi’s Nabucco and Lady Macbeth in Macbeth for the association ‘Nel Pozzo del giardino’ and the State Theatre of Piacenza for the festival ‘In canto... d’opera’. She sang for PratoLirica and was awarded the 12th edition of the Iva Pacetti Prize. In 2017, she was awarded a scholarship place at the prestigious Richard Wagner Stipendienstiftung in Bayreuth, Germany, and qualified for the final rounds of the Belvedere Singing Competition in Moscow and the Mt. Fuji International Opera Competition in Japan.

In 2018, Rachael was selected to study at the prestigious Rodolfo Celletti Belcanto Academy, debuting at the Festival Della Valle D’Itria as Riccardo in Scarlatti’s Il Trionfo dell’Onore, and performing the Angel in Finzi’s In Terra Pax for the Orchestra Camerata di Prato. In 2019, she sang the role of Desdemona in Verdi’s Otello with the National Touring Opera in Australia, and performed with Jas Art Ballet at Milan’s Carcano Theatre and the Nervi Festival with artists from Teatro alla Scala, as well as the International Music Festival of Sartène, Corsica.

Continuing her studies at the Rodolfo del Corona Academy with mezzo-soprano Laura Brioli, Rachael became a resident soloist at the Puccini e la Sua Lucca Festival. Her international stage credits include Viardot’s Le Dernier Sorcier across Italy and Spain, the acclaimed touring production L’Altro Giacomo under Carlo Bernini, and Gluck’s Orfeo with Orchestra Camerata di Prato. In 2023, she performed with the Lucca Philharmonic Orchestra at Buckingham Palace in the presence of Prince Edward.

In 2024, Rachael debuted the title role in Puccini’s Turandot for Opera in Piazza in Empoli after winning a special prize from Centro Studi Musicali Ferruccio Busoni, and performed Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 and Respighi’s Il Tramonto. In 2025, she mastered verismo repertoire at the Mascagni Academy, performing Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana at the Mascagni Festival and at the Osaka Expo 2025 in Japan. In 2026, Rachael had the distinct honour of performing alongside world-renowned tenor Andrea Bocelli in Turin directed by Carlo Bernini, continuing extensive European orchestral and festival collaborations.