Rachel Barton Pine, violinist

About this user

American violinist Rachel Barton Pine has appeared as soloist with many of the world's most prestigious orchestras, including the Chicago, Atlanta, St. Louis, Dallas, Baltimore, Montreal, Vienna, New Zealand and Iceland Symphonies, and the Philadelphia Orchestra, working with conductors including Charles Dutoit, Zubin Mehta, Erich Leinsdorf, Marin Alsop, Neeme Järvi, and Placido Domingo. Acclaimed collaborations include Daniel Barenboim, Christoph Eschenbach, William Warfield, Christopher O'Riley and Mark O'Connor. Her festival appearances include Ravinia, Marlboro, Salzburg and Montreal (where she recently performed the complete Paganini 24 Caprices in a single evening and repeated the feat with Bach's Six Sonatas and Partitas). She has been featured on St. Paul Sunday, Performance Today, From the Top, CBS Sunday Morning, and NBC's Today.

Rachel's 12 critically acclaimed albums include "Brahms and Joachim Violin Concertos" with the Chicago Symphony (GRAMMY-nominated), "Scottish Fantasies" with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and her latest, "American Virtuosa: Tribute to Maud Powell." A very popular CD, "Stringendo: Storming the Citadel," features her original arrangements of rock and metal classics, from "Stairway to Heaven" to "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Rachel heavily researches the repertoire that she records, often writing her own liner notes. One of her most celebrated projects is the groundbreaking "Violin Concertos by Black Composers from the 18th and 19th Centuries."

Rachel began violin studies at age three and made her professional debut four years later with the Chicago String Ensemble. The youngest person (at age 17) and first American to win a gold medal at the J.S. Bach International Competition in Leipzig, Germany, she also won top prizes in the Szigeti (Budapest), Paganini (Genoa), Queen Elisabeth (Brussels), Kreisler (Vienna), and Montreal international violin competitions while still in her teens. Closer to home, she has been awarded "Best Classical Entertainer" three times at the Chicago Music Awards, and has been named a "Chicagoan of the Year" by both the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Magazine.

Rachel's efforts to reach new audiences include performing her own arrangement of the national anthem at Bulls and Cubs games, and appearing on rock radio stations to discuss meeting many of her favorite rock heroes (for example, she has performed with Plant and Page and once opened for Slash and Sammy Hagar at the House of Blues). Her many charitable activities include serving as a trustee of the Music Institute of Chicago and the Chicago School of Violin Making. As president of the Rachel Elizabeth Barton Foundation (www.rebf.org), she supports young artists through various projects including the Instrument Loan Program, Grants for Education and Career, and The String Students' Library of Music by Black Composers. She recently received the prestigious Studs Terkel Humanities Service Award for her work in music education.

Rachel plays the Joseph Guarnerius del Gesu (Cremona 1742), known as the "ex-Soldat," on generous loan from her patron.