About Rachel

Rachel Lopez is currently flutist & piccoloist with the Austin Symphony & Ballet Austin. She has performed frequently as principal flute, & has been described by the Austin Statesman as playing with a "gorgeous tone". She also plays piccolo & 3rd flute with the Ann Arbor Symphony in Michigan, a position she has held since 2005. Since 2007, she has performed often in the Austin area with choral groups like Chorus Austin & Panoramic Voices (previously Texas Choral Consort), & was guest Principal Flute in the Austin Opera in a performance broadcast nationally on Austin PBS.
 

Before joining the Austin Symphony in 2006, Rachel was a season member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago in 2005-2006, working under Cliff Colnot & guest conductors. Audition highlights from 2004-2016 include playing in finals/semi-finals for flute & piccolo positions for Chicago, Grant Park, St. Louis, Phoenix, Houston Ballet, Milwaukee, Oregon, Seattle, & San Diego Symphonies. She has performed with the San Antonio Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of San Antonio, & Dubuque Symphony. Summer music festivals include the Henry Mancini Institute (formerly in Los Angeles, CA), Texas Music Festival, International Festival-Institute at Round Top, & the AIMS Festival in Graz, Austria. She was a prize winner for the NFA Orchestral Audition Competition, Flute Society of Kentucky Young Artist Competition, Mid-South Flute Society Young Artist Competition, & a finalist for the Myrna Brown Artist Competition (2003-2005).
 

Rachel is very active in music education & has been a private instructor in the Austin area since 2007. She has judged in countless student auditions for Region Band & orchestra. In addition, she has adjudicated in competitions for the Austin Flute Society & Texas Flute Society, including Myrna Brown. She has given masterclasses & recitals for the Austin Flute Society & Austin Chamber Music Center. She was on the faculty for the Floot Fire Austin summer camp from 2015-2019. As a member of the Austin Symphony, she has participated in Building Blocks, which have various small ensembles perform for elementary school children around the Austin area.
 

Rachel received her Bachelor of Music in flute performance from the University of Houston, Master of Music in flute performance from the University of North Texas, & Orchestral Studies Diploma from Roosevelt University in Chicago. Her flute instructors include Claire Johnson, Catherine LeGrand, Terri Sundberg, Leslie Fagan, Jean Berkenstock, & Donald Peck.
 

Education

Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University
Orchestral Studies Diploma
Studies with Jean Berkenstock, Donald Peck, & Leslie Fagan

University of North Texas, College of Music
Master of Music in Flute Performance
Studies with Terri Sundberg

University of Houston, Moores School of Music
Bachelor of Music in Flute Performance
Primary studies with Claire Johnson; additional studies with Byron Hester, Sydney Carlson, & Wendy Bergin