Biography

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, Treble Choir, and Community Chorale, and teaches Aural Skills, Conducting, and Voice. She previously served as the Director of Choral Activities at Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, WV, and founded Six Degree Singers, a community choir based in Silver Spring, MD, in 2009. She currently serves as Treble/SSA Repertoire & Resources Chair of the NJ chapter of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) and served as President of the MD/DC chapter of ACDA from 2021-2023. 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 New Jersey, 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 Update: Applications of Research in Music Education and the Choral Journal, a chapter in The Choral Conductor’s Companion (GIA, 2020), and has been invited to present her research at state, regional, and national ACDA, NCCO, CBDNA, and NJMEA 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, 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.

Dr. Carlson holds Bachelor’s degrees in Vocal Performance and Music Education from the University of Maryland, a Master’s degree in Choral Conducting from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a DMA in Choral Conducting from the University of Maryland.