About

Rachel’s interest in music took off in 2006 when she began taking clarinet lessons at school. She began taking private lessons in 2012 at a local music store and began studying privately with Jack Howell in 2015 during her freshman year at Duquesne University. She played the clarinet in high school marching and symphonic bands, as well as with the pit orchestra for her high school’s stage productions. Rachel also participated in PMEA Honors and District band festivals. When she graduated from high school in 2015, she began playing with the Musician’s Concert Band in Butler, Pennsylvania where she played with the group for several summers.

Rachel began her studies at Duquesne University in 2015. She graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Music Technology Sound Recording in May 2019. Throughout her studies, Rachel had the opportunity to learn from countless professionals in the audio field including Luke Boegel, Jim Cunningham, Jay Dudt, Thomas Kikta, Jesse Naus, Bill Purse, Lynn Purse, and Francisco Rodriguez. In addition to learning about audio engineering, Rachel performed with the Electronic Ensemble, Symphony Band, and Pep Band ensembles at Duquesne. She was the Vice President of the Duquesne University Audio Engineering Society during her senior year, and served as the society’s secretary during her junior year. Rachel completed an internship with Jim Cunningham at WQED-FM in Pittsburgh during the summer of 2018. She also completed an internship with Jesse Naus at Red Caiman Studios in Pittsburgh during the summer and fall of 2017.

After graduating from Duquesne, Rachel began an internship at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida through the Disney College Program. She was an attractions cast member at Spaceship Earth in EPCOT. Although her time there was cut short due to COVID-19, the impact of working for the Walt Disney Company stayed with her.

Rachel worked as an Audio Engineer for The MediaPreserve/Preservation Technologies LP for six months during 2021. She transferred reel-to-reel tapes to digital files in order to preserve the content on the tapes. She was excited to learn more about tape and analog audio through her work with The MediaPreserve.

Rachel left The MediaPreserve to return to Walt Disney World for her second Disney College Program in September 2021. She worked as an attractions cast member at Test Track in EPCOT. She is very thankful to have had a second opportunity to work for a renowned company; especially during Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary Celebration. After completing her second college program, she transferred to a full-time Entertainment Technician role at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in June 2022.

Rachel works at several stage shows in Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The first show that she learned was Beauty and the Beast - Live on Stage; where she works both backstage as a stagehand and out in the booth as an audio tech. The second show that she learned was the Disney Junior Play & Dance!; where she works both backstage as a stagehand as well as an audio tech and a lighting/show control tech. The most recent show that she has learned is For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing—Along Celebration; where she works as an audio, lighting, and show control tech. She has become both a trainer and a relief crew chief at both the Beauty and the Beast show and the Frozen show. She has been able to work on several RunDisney marathons, events for UCA cheerleading competitions at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, and other events around Walt Disney World property. However, her favorite show to work on so far has been What’s This? Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas Sing—Along for the first year of Disney Jollywood Nights at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Rachel is incredibly thankful to have been given the opportunity to help bring this show to life. She and her fellow technicians worked countless hours to prepare for the opening of this show. She has been able to learn so much through this experience. Rachel is looking forward to the new experiences and opportunities that await her as she continues to work as an Entertainment Technician for Walt Disney World.

Rachel’s first passions within the audio field were post-production and radio. She has wanted to work in the audio industry for film and television since her sophomore year of high school. She found this passion through the realization that sound is such an important element in television and film. Rachel was fascinated by the way sound effects, music, and dialog can affect our emotional responses to these entertainment mediums. On the other hand, she found a passion for radio through her internship at WQED-FM. She had so much fun interviewing musicians and artists from around the country. She also enjoyed producing content for the station’s broadcasts and website. Rachel hopes to work in both of these fields so that she can expand her knowledge and skills in these industries. She has found a new passion as an audio technician for several theatre shows at Walt Disney World. She loves creating magic for theme park guests and being able to share some of the amazing stories that Disney has created. She has had so many opportunities to explore different avenues within audio engineering and she is excited to continue to learn and grow as an audio engineer.