“A greatly gifted young violinist…her sound was rich and commanding.”
                                                                               – The New York Times

In both life and art, violinist Rachel Barton Pine has an extraordinary gift for connecting with her audiences. She has received worldwide acclaim for her virtuosic technical mastery, lustrous tone and perceptive performances. Her passion for research allows her to bring emotionally charged, historically-informed interpretations to her diverse repertoire, and her work as a philanthropist continues to inspire the next generation of artists and concert-goers.

For her latest recording, Beethoven & Clement Violin Concertos, released September 9th on the Cedille label, Pine performs a centerpiece of the violin repertoire, the Beethoven Concerto, as well as the world premiere recording of Clement’s D Major Violin Concerto, unearthed from 200 years of obscurity. The album was recorded with The Royal Philharmonic conducted by José Serebrier.

Pine has appeared as soloist with many of the world’s most prestigious ensembles, including the Chicago, St. Louis, Dallas, Montreal, Atlanta and Baltimore Symphonies; Buffalo and Rochester Philharmonics; and the Philadelphia and Louisville Orchestras. Overseas, she has performed with the Vienna, New Zealand, and Budapest Symphonies; Mozarteum, Scottish, and Israel Chamber Orchestras; and Belgian National Orchestra. She has worked with such renowned conductors as Charles Dutoit, Zubin Mehta, Erich Leinsdorf, Neeme Järvi, Marin Alsop and Placido Domingo and has collaborated with such leading artists as Daniel Barenboim, Christoph Eschenbach, William Warfield and Mark O’Connor. Her festival appearances have included Marlboro, Ravinia and Salzburg. A dedicated chamber musician, Pine performs regularly with her period instrument ensemble Trio Settecento and with New York’s Jupiter Chamber Players. In recital she has performed the complete Paganini Caprices and the complete Bach Sonatas and Partitas (each cycle in a single evening). She recently played for the President of Ghana and the President of Singapore as well as at the U.S. Supreme Court.

Highlights of her 2008-2009 season include her London debut with the Royal Philharmonic, appearances with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra in Edinburgh and Glasgow and the Iceland Symphony in Reykjavik, Iceland, and U.S. performances with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the Colorado Springs and Dayton Philharmonics.

These programs will include works by composers Beethoven, Cordero, Brahms, Bruch, Korngold, Dvorak, Ravel, Saint-Saens, Sarasate and Tchaikovsky. In addition, she will perform a recital on viola d’amore and make her Chicago debut on two of the violin's ancestors – the vielle and rebec – at concerts organized by the Newberry Library.

Pine has earned critical acclaim for her prolific discography. Her recent album, American Virtuosa: Tribute to Maud Powell, features rarely-heard Victorian-era gems arranged by America’s first internationally acclaimed violinist. Her 2005 album Scottish Fantasies for Violin and Orchestra features Pine with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, conductor Alexander Platt and famed Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser performing evocative works based on traditional Scottish melodies. Her Solo Baroque album highlights two of Bach's masterpieces for unaccompanied violin and their predecessors. An album of Brahms and Joachim Concertos in collaboration with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and conductor Carlos Kalmar features performances of both Joachim’s and Pine’s own cadenzas for the Brahms Concerto and was nominated for a 2004 GRAMMY Award as “Best Engineered Album, Classical.” Previous acclaimed recordings on the Cedille label include Violin Concertos by Black Composers of the 18th and 19th Centuries, nominated for a National Public Radio (NPR) Heritage Award; the complete Handel Sonatas for Violin and Continuo; 20th-century duos on Double Play; and an album of virtuoso pieces entitled Instrument of the Devil. In June 1994, Pine released her much-heralded debut recording Homage to Sarasate with pianist Samuel Sanders on the Dorian label.

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. She was the first American and youngest person to ever 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. She won prizes for her interpretation of the Paganini Caprices at both the Szigeti Competition and the 1993 Paganini International Violin Competition in Genoa.

Pine writes her own cadenzas to many of the works she performs including concertos by Brahms, Beethoven, Paganini and Mozart. A soon to be published collection of her encores and arrangements will earn her the distinction of being the only living artist in Carl Fischer’s Masters Collection series. She frequently collaborates with living composers; Augusta Read Thomas has written a number of violin works for Pine and she was the second violinist to play John Corigliano’s entire Red Violin Concerto, working closely with him on the interpretation.

Pine was a torchbearer in the 1996 Olympic torch relay and appeared as soloist for the opening ceremonies of the Paralympic Games in Atlanta. She performed her own arrangement of the national anthem at 1995 and 1996 Chicago Bulls playoff games, and at the 1996 Democratic National Convention. She has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning, appeared four times on NBC’s Today, and frequently been a guest on nationally-syndicated radio shows including Performance Today, Saint Paul Sunday Morning and From the Top.

Pine is committed to encouraging the next generation to experience the transformative power of the arts. She is President of the Rachel Elizabeth Barton Foundation, which assists young artists through various projects including the Instrument Loan Program, Grants for Education and Career, Global HeartStrings (supporting classical musicians in developing countries), and The String Students’ Library of Music by Black Composers. She chairs the Academy Committee as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Music Institute of Chicago, which recently named the “Rachel Barton Pine Violin Chair” in her honor. Since 1997, she has been an instructor at Mark O’Connor’s Fiddle Camp and often coaches chamber music and youth orchestras, gives master classes and adjudicates music competitions. She works to expand awareness of and appreciation for classical music through special programs for children and spoken program notes or pre-concert conversations. She often reaches out to new audiences through performances in rock clubs and on rock music radio stations, and also maintains a weekly blog, podcast, and video channel which may be accessed through her website www.rachelbartonpine.com. In 2007, she received the prestigious Studs Terkel Humanities Service Awards for her work in music education.

A Chicago native, Pine began violin studies at age three and made her professional debut four years later at age seven with the Chicago String Ensemble. Her earliest appearances with the Chicago Symphony (at ages ten and fifteen) were broadcast on television. Her principal teachers were Roland and Almita Vamos and she has also studied with Ruben Gonzalez, Werner Scholz, Elmira Darvarova and several specialists in baroque and classical period performance practice. Pine resides in Chicago with her husband. She performs on the Joseph Guarnerius del Gesu (Cremona 1742), known as the “ex-Soldat,” on generous loan from her patron.

September 2008 - PLEASE DESTROY ALL PREVIOUSLY DATED MATERIALS.