Born in Bedford, Rachel Nicholls read French and Linguistic Science at the University of York, furthering her studies at the Royal College of Music where she won the President's Rose Bowl for the Most Outstanding Student of the Year. Winner of the Second Prize at the Kathleen Ferrier Memorial Competition, she has a huge repertoire ranging from J. S. Bach and Handel to Schoenberg and Errollyn Wallen. She made her début at London's Royal Opera in 2001 and her international concert début in 2000 in Halle with Sir David Willcocks. Her career has since taken her all over the world from Paris to China and Japan to the US. Conductors with whom she has worked in opera and concert include Thomas Dausgaard, Sir Andrew Davis, Sir Colin Davis, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Valery Gergiev, Martin Gester, Richard Hickox, Sir Simon Rattle, Steven Sloane and Masaaki Suzuki.