Rebecca Sjöwall, singer of the "Rapture Anthem" on the award-winning video game BioShock, has been praised for her "luscious and soaring soprano" and "deeply affecting" presence.

On the operatic stage, she made her professional debut as Micaëla (Carmen) with West Bay Opera in 2008, and soon followed with debuts at San Francisco Lyric Opera (Gilda in Rigoletto) and Festival Opera of Walnut Creek (Liù in Turandot). Of that performance, the Contra Costa Times wrote, "the finest vocalism and the most persuasive performance of all came from Rebecca Sjowall as the slave girl Liu, who sacrifices herself to save her beloved Calaf. Her 'Tanto amore segreto' aria, building up to the suicidal plunge of the knife into her breast, was delivered with great pathos and bell-like clarity."

In 2010, Ms. Sjöwall participated in the world premiere production of The First Lady, of which L.A. Weekly wrote, "Wells reserves his most moving aria for the character that is the piece's true dramatic heart -- Anna Roosevelt Boettiger (soprano Rebecca Sjowall in an outstanding performance)." For the 2010/2011 season, she joined the Marion Roose Pullin Arizona Opera Resident Artist Program, making her mainstage debut as Edith in Pirates of Penzance followed by Frasquita in Carmen. She also performed her first Violetta in Verdi's La traviata with Riverside Lyric Opera. She returns to Arizona Opera for the 2011/2012 season and will appear as Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, the High Priestess in Aida and Amor in Orfeo ed Euridice. She will also cover the roles of Nedda (Pagliacci), Marguerite (Faust) and Euridice (Orfeo ed Euridice).

In addition to her appearance on the BioShock and BioShock 2 soundtracks, Ms. Sjöwall is featured as the Hollywood Starlet on The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman by Sparks. She reprised her role for the first live performance of the album, presented by the Los Angeles Film Festival, at the Ford Amphitheatre in Hollywood in June 2011. She has been a guest soloist on Los Angeles County Museum of Art's Sundays Live and enjoys collaborating with living composers, including her husband, Marcus Sjöwall.

In 2009, Ms. Sjöwall made her Carnegie Hall debut in a world premiere piece by Stephen Edwards entitled A Carol Fantasy. In the Garret, a song cycle by Christina Whitten Thomas that Ms. Sjöwall premiered, received Second Place at the 2010 NATS Art Song Award Competition. She has given recitals in Japan, Italy, Latvia, Sweden and the United States and has been a frequent soloist with the Music at Westwood series. She has also appeared as soloist with the Angeles Chorale, the UCLA Philharmonia and the Greater Bridgeport Symphony.

Honors given to Ms. Sjöwall include two-time District Winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions as well as Winner of the Barnum Festival Jenny Lind Competition, the Long Beach Mozart Festival Vocal Competition, the Redlands Bowl Young Artist Auditions and the A.E.I.O.U. Nunzio Crisci Opera Scholarship. She is a Second Place Winner of the Palm Springs Opera Guild Competition and has been a Finalist in the International Antonín Dvorák Competition and the Palm Beach Opera Competition. A two-time Society of Singers Scholarship Recipient, she was selected to perform at the 16th Annual ELLA Awards honoring Gladys Knight. She has also received generous support from The Opera Buffs and from composer Stephen Edwards.

Born and raised in Wisconsin, Ms. Sjöwall took her first voice lesson while completing her B.A. in Political Science at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. She received her M.M. from UCLA, where she was seen in the roles of Countess Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Alice Ford (Falstaff), Helena (A Midsummer Night's Dream) and Lucy (The Threepenny Opera). She was also one of four UCLA singers to appear in recital with pianist Rakefet Hak at Teatro la Fenice. She currently lives in Los Angeles.