Rachel Barton Pine, Violin

Biography

A passionate and dedicated musician, American violinist
Rachel Barton Pine is an inspiration to audiences everywhere. She has received
worldwide acclaim for her profound and thoughtful interpretations delivered
with tremendous enthusiasm and intensity, which she applies to extremely
diverse repertoire.

Ms. Pine has appeared as soloist with many of the world’s most prestigious
ensembles, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Chicago, Atlanta, St.
Louis, Dallas, Baltimore, San Diego, Montreal, Vienna, New Zealand, Iceland,
and Budapest Symphonies, and the Israel and Scottish Chamber Orchestras. She
has worked closely with such renowned conductors as Marin Alsop, Placido
Domingo, Charles Dutoit, Zubin Mehta, Erich Leinsdorf, Neeme Järvi, 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 US festival appearances include engagements at the
Marlboro, Ravinia, and Grant Park Music Festivals. Notable collaborations
include pairings with Daniel Barenboim, Christoph Eschenbach, Mark O’Connor,
Christopher O’Riley, and William Warfield, and her own period instrument
ensemble Trio Settecento. As a recitalist, Ms. Pine’s appearances have included
live broadcast performances of the complete Paganini Caprices and of all six
Bach Sonatas and Partitas. 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. Other broadcast
appearances include NPR’s Performance Today and From the Top, CBS’s Sunday
Morning, and NBC’s Today.

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.

In June 1996, Ms. Pine was one of the torchbearers in the Olympic torch relay
and appeared later that summer as soloist for the opening ceremonies of the
Paralympic Games at Centennial Olympic Stadium. She performed her own virtuoso
solo arrangement of the national anthem at Chicago Bulls playoff games in 1995
and 1996, and at the 1996 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Also in
1996, Chicago magazine selected Ms. Pine as a “Chicagoan of the Year” and
Today’s Chicago Woman magazine selected her as a “Woman of the Year.” She has
been named “Classical Entertainer of the Year” at the annual Chicago Music
Awards four times since 2003.

Ms. Pine is President of the Rachel Elizabeth Barton Foundation and serves on
the board of trustees of many charities including the Music Institute of
Chicago. Since 1997, she has served as instructor for Mark O’Connor’s Fiddle
Camp. Ms. Pine often coaches chamber music, leads sectionals for youth
orchestras, and gives master classes. Along with touring activities, she enjoys
giving special programs and demonstrations for children and often incorporates
spoken program notes or pre-concert conversations into her appearances. Her
efforts to reach younger audiences have included frequent interviews and
performances on rock music radio stations. Charitable performances include an
annual appearance on the Jerry Lewis Telethon. She recently received the
prestigious Studs Terkel Humanities Service Award for her work in music education.

Ms. Pine 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
Storming the Citadel.

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