Dr. Rachel Carlson, DMA

Dr. Rachel Carlson is the Director of Choral and Vocal Activities at Kean University in
Union, NJ, where she conducts the Kean University Concert Choir and Chorale and
teaches Aural Skills. She previously served as the Director of Choral Activities at
Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, WV, where she conducted the 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 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 in the Choral Journal and has been
invited to present her research at state, regional, and national ACDA conferences as well
as national NCCO conferences.

Dr. Carlson has toured the country and the world as a freelance professional choral singer
and soprano soloist with many top professional ensembles, including the Oregon Bach
Festival, Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church Choir, True Concord Voices and Orchestra,
Vox Humana, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Washington Master Chorale, Washington Bach
Consort, Conspirare, Manhattan Chorale, and Germany’s Bach Ensemble Helmuth
Rilling.