Rachel Valler's parents, Sonia and Joseph Vallerstein, arrived in Australia from Russia in 1927.

[3] She studied piano from an early age,[4] performed with the Zionist Youth League during her teens as a solo pianist,[5] and was mentored by Ignaz Friedman until his death in 1948.

[2] She taught music and worked in the library at Ascham Girls School,[3] and won the State final of the ABC Concerto Competition in 1954.

[13] She travelled to London in the early 1950s,[3] and taught piano while studying with the Hungarian pianist Ilona Kabos.

[3] During the 1980s she was considered one of Australia's most distinguished classical musicians, alongside Donald Hazelwood and Anne Menzies.