ARTIST PROFILE

Rachel Barton Pine and Matthew Hagle

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 an extremely diverse repertoire.

Ms. Pine has appeared as soloist with many of the world's most prestigious ensembles, including the Philadelphia, Chicago, Atlanta, St. Louis, Dallas and Baltimore Symphonies, Buffalo, Illinois and Rochester Philharmonics and Louisville Orchestra. Ms. Pine's overseas performances have included the Montreal, Vienna, New Zealand, Iceland and Budapest Symphonies, Belgian National Orchestra, Mozarteum Chamber Orchestra and Camerata Salzburg. She has worked with such renowned conductors as Charles Dutoit, Zubin Mehta, Erich Leinsdorf, Neeme Järvi, Semyon Bychkov and Placido Domingo. In 2001, she made her Salzburg Festival debut. This marked her first performance in that city since Franz Welser-Möst invited her to Mozartwoche in January 2000. Acclaimed collaborations include appearances with the Pacifica String Quartet, as well as chamber performances with Daniel Barenboim, Christoph Eschenbach, William Warfield and Mark O'Connor. As a recitalist, she has performed the complete Paganini Caprices and Bach Sonatas and Partitas for live broadcast on Chicago's WFMT Radio. In January 2005, WFMT broadcasted three live performances of Beethoven's complete works for violin and piano, including all ten sonatas and the world premiere of the fragment in A with Ms. Pine and longtime collaborator, Matthew Hagle. Later that spring, Minnesota Public Radio's Saint Paul Sunday Morning aired a program featuring Ms. Pine, including the world premiere performance of Augusta Read Thomas's Rush, written for the artist. She has also appeared several times recently on National Public Radio's Performance Today.

Ms. Pine's 2005-2006 season began in June with appearances at the Amelia Island and Musicorda Summer Music Festivals, followed by a performance of works from her latest album at Chicago's annual Celtic Fest. United States recital appearances include the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC, as well as Chicago, Wheaton and Aurora, IL. Her orchestral engagements include Maryland, Evanston, Springfield, Waukesha, Northbrook, Kenosha, Racine, Colorado Springs and Fort Wayne, as well as performances of John Corigliano's "Red Violin" Concerto with the Illinois and Tallahassee Symphonies. In January 2006, she performs chamber music with Trio Settecento, then travels to the mid-Atlantic in February for Joachim's Violin Concerto with the Iceland Symphony.

Highlights from recent seasons include appearances at the Marlboro Music Festival, engagements with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Charles Dutoit, the Grant Park Orchestra under the direction of Carlos Kalmar and appearances with the Dallas, San Diego, Syracuse, Springfield, Wichita, Colorado Springs and Memphis Symphonies, as well as the Lexington and Ft. Wayne Philharmonics. In summer 2003, Ms. Barton returned to the Ravinia Festival, where she collaborated with Marin Alsop, pianist Jonathan Biss and cellist Gary Hoffman in the Beethoven Triple Concerto.

Ms. Pine has accumulated a critically acclaimed and prolific discography. Her latest disc, Scottish Fantasies for Violin and Orchestra, features the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, conductor Alexander Platt and famed Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser performing evocative works based on traditional Scottish melodies. These include Bruch's Scottish Fantasy and the artist's own Medley of Scots Tunes, performed and co-written with Fraser. Released by Cedille Records in June 2005, Ms. Pine's eleventh album has just received an impressive ten out of ten for artistic and sound quality from ClassicsToday.com. In September 2004, Cedille released Solo Baroque, highlighting two of Bach's masterpieces for unaccompanied violin, along with key works by Biber, Westhoff and Pisendel. A recording of Brahms and Joachim Concertos in collaboration with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and conductor Carlos Kalmar released in 2003 features performances of both Joachim's and Ms. Pine's own cadenzas for the Brahms Concerto and was nominated for a 2004 GRAMMY Award as "Best Engineered Album, Classical." BBC Music Magazine called Ms. Pine's interpretation "a confident, grandiloquent performance projected with real authority."

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 with harpsichordist David Schrader and cellist John Mark Rozendaal; 20th-century duos on Double Play with cellist Wendy Warner; and an album of virtuoso pieces entitled Instrument of the Devil. In June 1994, Ms. Pine released her much-heralded debut recording Homage to Sarasate on the Dorian label. Recorded with pianist Samuel Sanders, the album features Sarasate's complete Spanish Dances and Carmen Fantasy. Dorian also released Liszt's works for violin and piano, a collaboration with pianist Thomas Labé.

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. 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, and many national and regional 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.

In June 1996, Ms. Pine was a torchbearer in the Olympic torch relay and appeared later that summer as soloist with members of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra for the opening ceremonies of the Paralympic Games at Centennial Olympic Stadium. She performed her own 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 the artist as a "Chicagoan of the Year" and Today's Chicago Woman magazine selected her as a "Woman of the Year." She was featured on CBS Sunday Morning and has twice appeared on NBC's Today. Ms. Pine was named "Classical Entertainer of the Year" at the annual Chicago Music Awards in 2003 and 2004.

Ms. Pine 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, and The String Student's Library of Music by Black Composers. From 2000 until 2004, Ms. Pine was Chair of the Curriculum and Programs Committee as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Music Institute of Chicago, which recently named the "Rachel Barton Violin Chair" in her honor. Since 1997, she has been an instructor at Mark O'Connor's Fiddle Camp. In October 2004, she was named Artistic Director of the Musicorda Summer Music Festival in Massachusetts. The violinist often coaches chamber music, leads sectionals for youth orchestras, gives master classes and adjudicates music competitions. Alongside her touring activities, she enjoys giving special programs and demonstrations for children and also 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 regular appearances on the Jerry Lewis Telethon.

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

A Chicago native, Ms. Pine began violin studies at age three and made her professional debut four years later with the Chicago String Ensemble. At ages ten and fifteen, she made her earliest appearances with the Chicago Symphony, broadcast for public 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. Ms. Pine currently resides in Chicago with her husband.

 

Pianist MATTHEW HAGLE lives and works in the Chicago area, having performed at the Ravinia Festival's Martin Theater, Symphony Center, the Chicago Cultural Center, and live from radio station WFMT, among other venues. He has performed in England, Australia, and Japan, as well as throughout the United States. Since 1999, he has been principal collaborator to violinist Rachel Barton Pine. He also performs with members of the Chicago Symphony and as a piano duo with his wife Mio. A dedicated teacher of piano, chamber music, music theory, and composition, Mr. Hagle currently is on the faculty of the Music Institute of Chicago and Elmhurst College in Chicago. He is a graduate of the Peabody Conservatory (B.M.) and of Yale University (M.M., M.M.A., D.M.A), receiving faculty prizes in piano, accompanying, and music theory. His teachers have been Claude Frank, Robert Weirich, Donald Currier and Maria Curcio Diam. He has also received a Fulbright Grant to study piano privately in London.