Rachel Barton Pine
Rachel Barton Pine (born Rachel Elizabeth Barton, October 11, 1974) is an American violinist. She debuted with the Chicago Symphony at age 10, and was the first American and youngest ever gold medal winner of the International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition.[2] The Washington Post wrote that she "displays a power and confidence that puts her in the top echelon."[3]
Pine tours worldwide as a soloist with prestigious orchestras, has an active recording career, and has run the Rachel Barton Pine Foundation since 2001, which provides services and funding to promote classical music education and performances.[4]
Early life[edit]
Pine was born in Chicago, and began playing the violin at age 3 after being inspired by the example of older girls playing at her church. She debuted with the Chicago String Ensemble at age 7, and with the Chicago Symphony under the baton of Erich Leinsdorf at age 10. Her passion for violin compelled her to practice 4 or 5 hours a day as a second grader, prompting her elementary school principal to encourage her parents to begin home schooling,[5] which allowed her to focus on her music, practicing 8 hours a day. Her principal teachers were Roland and Almita Vamos of the Music Institute of Chicago. At age 14, she began taking paid gigs playing at weddings and in orchestras, which allowed her to contribute significantly to her family's income as they experienced financial difficulties. Explaining how she managed, she says, "I put on a lot of makeup and pretended I was older than I was."[6]
She attained notable success in a number of violin competitions, including winning the 1992 Johann Sebastian Bach International Competition in Leipzig, Germany.[2] She also earned 2nd prizes in the József Szigeti Violin Competition (1992) and the International Fritz Kreisler Competition (1992), as well as awards from the Montreal International Musical Competition (1991), the Paganini Competition (1993), and the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition (1993).[7][8]
Rachel Barton Pine Foundation[edit]
Pine started a foundation in 2001 to promote the study and appreciation of classical music, including string music by black composers such as Jessie Montgomery, Edward W. Hardy, Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson and Wynton Marsalis.[37] It prepares music curricula on black composers, loans high-quality instruments to deserving young musicians, and provides grants to cover incidental expenses (such as for supplemental lessons, accompanists, sheet music, travel, competition entrance fees, instrument repair, and audition recordings) of students and young professional musicians. Another program, Global HeartStrings, is dedicated to supporting aspiring classical musicians from developing countries.[38] In this effort, Barton Pine has been aided by a younger sister, Hannah Barton, also a violinist.[39]
In 2006, after being nominated by Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, Barton Pine received the Studs Terkel Humanities Service Award for her work through the foundation.[40] She has also been given the 2012 Karl Haas Prize for Music Education for this work and her other education-related efforts.[41]
A Stradivarius violin, the 'Arkwright Lady Rebecca Sylvan', was donated to the foundation by Joseph Sylvan in 2015.[42][43]
Personal life[edit]
In 2004,[48] Barton married Greg Pine, a health care consulting firm CEO and former minor league baseball pitcher.[49] They have one daughter, Sylvia, who is also an accomplished violinist and composer, and sometimes performs with her mother.