Self-identified ‘corn fed Arkansas gal’ Rae Shrum has always been passionate about performing arts—in her childhood she studied piano, violin, theatre, dance, and singing. Always outgoing, her parents would tell you that she acted as if the world were her stage.

Rae eventually found her niche in classical singing. She moved to California in 2015 to pursue her bachelors in performance at Chapman University. Having a self-taught aptitude for digital design, while in school she voluntarily designed posters and managed digital content for the university’s opera school.

After graduating in 2019, Rae taught music lessons and group classes for both private schools and non-profits programs in Orange County. When the pandemic necessitated a switch to online learning, she dove head-first in developing her digital creative skills in order to help these schools thrive. She managed digital content and web design for Learning Camp for Kids (Non-profit, Orange, CA), WePlay Music Schools (Irvine, CA), and South Pasadena Arts & Music Academy, all while continuing to teach a full roster of students.

Now, with theater doors back open to the public, Rae is focused on pursuing the next stage in her own artistic development. Gaining increasing notice on both concert and operatic stages, Rae finds herself most passionate about projects that uplift intersectional identities and diverse viewpoints in historically “conservative” mediums such as opera.

This passion is what ultimately brought Rae to Blue13. In January 2023, Rae moved to Leipzig, Germany to continue her artistic training as an operatic mezzo-soprano, but she continues to remotely manage digital content for both Blue13 and for LA-based opera company Pacific Opera Project. Rae is currently accepting both short-term and long-term clients for services including graphic design, social media management, web design—for inquiries feel free to reach out to raeshrumdesign@gmail.com.