Rachel Blumenthal was appointed Associate Principal Flute of the New York City Ballet in 2024. She spends her summers performing in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she has held the Second Flute/Piccolo position at the Santa Fe Opera since 2019. Rachel has held one-year positions at the Lyric Opera of Chicago (2022-2023) and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (2021-2022) and permanent positions in the Sarasota Opera Orchestra and Des Moines Symphony Orchestra. Prior to relocating to New York City, she spent ten years as a busy freelancer in and around Chicago, where she was a frequent guest with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Washington National Opera, and numerous other ensembles. She has also performed as a chamber musician at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival and Chicago’s Music of the Baroque.

 

Born and raised in Chicago, Rachel began her musical studies when her grandmother surprised her with a flute for her ninth birthday. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan and her master’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University. Rachel has been a fellow at numerous summer music festivals, including the Tanglewood Music Center, the National Repertory Orchestra, the Aspen Music Festival, and the Brevard Music Center. She is immensely grateful for the support and guidance of all of her teachers, most especially Jeanne Baxtresser and Amy Porter.