While still a university student in voice, Rachel Joselson performed with the Indianapolis Symphony and with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Robert Shaw. He first full-time operatic contract was in Darmstadt. She later performed a substantial soprano repertoire in Hamburg. Returning to the U.S., she was engaged by the Metropolitan Opeara for Kurt Weil's "Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny." She has been on the faculty of the University of Iowa since 1997.