"Her dramatic expression and stunning voice exhibit great beauty and power."

Millions of gamers have heard Rebecca Sjöwall's voice as the singer of the "Rapture Anthem" on BioShock and BioShock 2. Others may recognize her distinctive soprano from her appearance on three albums by the genre-defying band Sparks. She sings the Hollywood Starlet on The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman, duets with Russell Mael on the final track of Hippopotamus, and is featured on the Annette: Unlimited Soundtrack.

"...her gold vocal ecstasy is a perfect companion to Russell Mael’s falsetto"

Rebecca portrayed the gossip reporter Connie O'Connor in the film Annette. Directed by Leos Carax and featuring an original story and music by Sparks, the film stars Adam Driver, Marion Cotillard, and Simon Helberg. It opened the 74th Cannes Film Festival and won several César Awards, including Best Original Music.

Rebecca has also joined Sparks live in concert. She reprised her role as the Hollywood Starlet for their sold-out performance of The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman with the L.A. Film Festival at the Ford in Hollywood. And she performed with them during the Los Angeles leg of their Hippopotamus world tour.

Rebecca's voice is also featured in the 2021 film Barb and Star Go to Vista del Mar. Directed by Josh Greenbaum, the film has a screenplay by Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, music by Christopher Lennertz and Dara Taylor, and stars Wiig, Mumolo, and Jamie Dornan.

"Sjöwall inhabited the character completely. Her voice easily mastered all the tonal complexity and dissonance Britten threw at it."

Rebecca has performed over 30 different roles with opera companies across the U.S., including Arizona Opera, Nashville Opera, and Pacific Opera Project. Her repertoire encompasses a wide variety of roles, such as The Governess in The Turn of the Screw, Liù in Turandot, Older Alyce in Glory Denied, and Alice Ford in Falstaff.

"Her climactic singing scream of 'Philistine!' at Dr. S is one of the most electrifying moments I've experienced in more than 40 years of attending live opera and theater performances."

Rebecca is featured as Mrs. P on the Nashville Opera studio recording of Michael Nyman's The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, released by Naxos. She also created leading roles in three world premiere operas by Kenneth Wells: Anna Roosevelt in The First Lady and Professor Elyn Saks in The Center Cannot Hold and The Center Cannot Hold: Part 2. The latter two operas are based on USC Law Professor Elyn Saks' acclaimed memoir, The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness.

"We are lucky to have a singer with so clear a vocal affinity to new music as Rebecca Sjöwall. Her voice just takes to it so easily, I forget she’s singing."

On 24 hours notice, Rebecca made her Carnegie Hall debut at the Stern Auditorium in a world premiere by film composer Stephen Edwards. She has created multiple projects with composer Christina Whitten Thomas. In the Garrett, is an award-winning song cycle based on Louisa May Alcott's poem. Mother's Word began first as an extended work for narrator, soprano, and pianist, which Rebecca premiered in 2019. Christina and Marian Lamb, the lyricist, then expanded it by adding two more singers. The work explores transformative moments in the lives of mothers from the Bible. The latest version was premiered in 2022. Also in 2022, she collaborated with composer Mark Carlson and pianist Victoria Kirsch to perform all of Mark's songs written for soprano, including a world premiere, at UCLA.

Rebecca's concert engagements have included the Requiems of Verdi, Brahms, Fauré, and Mozart. She has also performed major works by Dvorak, Beethoven, Gounod, Franck, Schubert, and Vaughan Williams. She has appeared in recital in several countries and toured Sweden as the Winner of the American Jenny Lind Competition.

"Standing alone at center stage, she lit up the proceedings with glowing, sweet tone and a radiant persona, which rightfully reaped some of the longest applause of the evening."

Rebecca took her first voice lesson at Luther College, where she received a bachelor's degree in political science. While living as an English teacher outside of Kyoto, Japan, a co-worker asked her to give a concert to raise money for The Friendship Foundation. The concert was an overwhelming success. After completing her teaching contract, she returned to the U.S. to study music, receiving a master's degree in vocal performance from UCLA. She then spent two seasons honing her craft as a studio artist with Arizona Opera.

Born and raised in Wisconsin, Rebecca now calls southern California home. She and her husband, composer Marcus Sjöwall, make their own music when not busy with other projects. They have collaborated on several classical songs and released their first pop single (CHAOS) in 2020. When not working, you will probably find her reading or exploring nature with their son.