Canadian pianist Rachel Andrist studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music with Ann Epperson and Warren Jones. In 1997, she moved to Europe and joined the music staff of the Theatre Royale de la Monnaie in Brussels, Belgium. Since then she has been a regular guest at the Salzburg Festival, the Salzburg Easter Festival, and the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, and has also been on the staff of the Glyndebourne Festival, De Nederlandse Opera in Amsterdam, English National Opera, and Scottish Opera.

Rachel has worked extensively with conductors Sir Simon Rattle, Antonio Pappano, Ivor Bolton, Rene Jacobs, Valery Gergiev, Philippe Jordan, and Kazushi Ono. Since 2008 she has been the head coach for the Young Singers Project at the Salzburg Festival, the head of Musical Projects at the Royal Danish Opera Academy, and a guest at the Chicago Opera Theater. In the fall of 2010, Rachel returned to Canada to join the music staff at the Canadian Opera Company.