“One of the rare mainstream performers with a total grasp of Baroque style and embellishment” (Fanfare) and “a most accomplished Baroque violinist, fully the equal of the foremost specialists” (Gramophone), Rachel Barton Pine has been involved in historically informed performances of baroque and classical repertoire since age 14. She has collaborated with many leading artists including David Douglass, Elizabeth Wright, Marilyn McDonald, Gesa Kordes, Temple of Apollo, and the Chicago Baroque Ensemble. 

In 1997, Ms. Pine formed Trio Settecento with ‘cellist/ viola da gambist John Mark Rozendaal and keyboardist David Schrader.  The trio has released two critically acclaimed albums on the Cedille label, Handel Sonatas for Violin and Continuo and An Italian Sojourn (works by Marini, Stradella, Corelli, Locatelli, Veracini, and others).  Their next recordings for Cedille will feature German, French, and British baroque sonatas.  Trio Settecento has performed period-instrument recitals of baroque and classical repertoire throughout the U.S., including their New York debut at the Frick Collection in 2006 and their debut at the Boston Early Music Festival in 2007.

Solo Baroque, her album of unaccompanied German music by Biber, Westhoff, Pisendel, and Bach, was released on Cedille Records in 2004. ClassicsToday.com raved, “Pine delivers one of the most appealing baroque violin tones I’ve ever heard. . . . She shows extraordinary mastery of ornamentation and obviously has worked out the most subtle expressive mannerisms with great care.”

In 2007, Ms. Pine made her debut on viola d’amore with the period instrument ensemble Ars Antigua. She will perform on the rebec as a guest artist with the Newberry Consort during the 2008-2009 season.

As a modern violinist, Ms. Pine has appeared as soloist with many of the world’s most prestigious ensembles, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Chicago, Atlanta, St. Louis, Dallas, Baltimore, San Diego, Montreal, Vienna, New Zealand, Iceland, and Budapest Symphonies. She has worked closely with such renowned conductors as Charles Dutoit, Zubin Mehta, Erich Leinsdorf, Neeme Järvi, Placido Domingo, and Semyon Bychkov. Ms. Pine participated in the January 2000 Mozartwoche in Salzburg at the invitation of Franz Welser-Möst and made her Salzburg Festival debut in the summer of 2001. Her U.S. festival appearances include engagements at the Marlboro, Ravinia, and Grant Park Music Festivals. Notable collaborations include pairings with Daniel Barenboim, Christoph Eschenbach, William Warfield, Christopher O’Riley and Mark O’Connor. As a recitalist, Ms. Pine’s appearances have included performances of the complete Paganini Caprices and of all six Bach Sonatas and Partitas at the Montreal (each feat in a single evening). In January 2005, Chicago’s WFMT broadcast three live performances comprising Beethoven’s complete works for violin and piano, including all ten sonatas and the world premiere of the fragment in A. On Minnesota Public Radio’s Saint Paul Sunday, Ms. Pine performed the world premiere of Augusta Read Thomas’s Rush, written for the artist.

Ms. Pine holds prizes from several of the world’s leading competitions, including a gold medal at the 1992 J. S. Bach International Violin Competition in Leipzig, Germany, making her the first American and youngest performer to win this honor. Other top awards came from the Queen Elisabeth (Brussels, 1993), Kreisler (Vienna, 1992), Szigeti (Budapest, 1992), and Montreal (1991) international violin competitions, as well as many national and regional competitions. She won the prize for interpretation of the Paganini Caprices at both the 1993 Paganini International Violin Competition in Genoa and the Szigeti Competition. She was featured on CBS Sunday Morning and has twice appeared on NBC’s Today. She was named “Classical Entertainer of the Year” at the annual Chicago Music Awards in 2003, 2004, and 2007.

Ms. Pine’s most recent Cedille releases are American Virtuosa: Tribute to Maud Powell, with pianist Matthew Hagle; Scottish Fantasies for Violin and Orchestra, with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra; Brahms & Joachim Violin Concertos with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.  She also has two CDs on the Dorian label featuring, respectively, violin and piano music of Sarasate and Liszt, and a disc on Cacophony Records titled Stringendo: Storming the Citadel.

January 2008 - PLEASE DESTROY ALL PREVIOUSLY DATED MATERIALS.