Rachel Barton Pine

Infobox musical artist
Name = Rachel Barton Pine


Img_capt =
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Background = non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth_name = Rachel Elizabeth Barton
Alias =
Born = birth date and age|1974|10|11
Died =
Origin = Chicago, Illinois, USA
Instrument = Violin
Genre = Classical
Occupation = Violinist
Years_active = 1981-present
Label = Cedille Records
Associated_acts =
URL = http://www.rachelbartonpine.com/

Rachel Barton Pine (born October 11, 1974) is a violinist from Chicago. Considered a child prodigy at the violin, she started playing at the age of 3 and a half. She played at many renowned venues through her child and teen years. She currently resides in Chicago with her husband Greg (a computer entrepreneur and former minor league baseball pitcher), plays regularly with the Chicago Symphony and on her own, tours worldwide, and has an active recording career.

Early life

Barton Pine began playing the violin after being inspired by the example of older girls playing at her church. She debuted with the [http://centerstage.net/music/whoswho/ChicagoStringEnsemble.html Chicago String Ensemble] at age 7, and with the Chicago Symphony under the baton of Erich Leinsdorf at age 10. Her principal teachers were Roland and Almita Vamos. Home schooling allowed her to practice 8 hours a day. At age 14 she was forced by circumstances to become the family breadwinner, playing at weddings and in orchestras. Explaining how she managed, she says, "I put on a lot of makeup and pretended I was older than I was." She attained notable success in a number of violin competitions, for example in 1992 becoming the youngest (at age 17) and the first American contestant to win the J.S. Bach International Competition in Leipzig, Germany. [cite web
title = Her hobby, her passion, and nearly her undoing
publisher = Associated Press
date = 2004-10-10
url = http://www.sptimes.com/2004/10/10/Floridian/Her_hobby__her_passio.shtml
accessdate = 2008-02-09]

Metra accident

On January 16, 1995, Barton Pine was severely injured in a train accident in the suburb of Winnetka, where she taught violin lessons. As she was exiting a Metra commuter train with her violin over her shoulder, the doors closed on the strap to her case, pinning her left shoulder to the train. The doors, which were controlled remotely and had no safety sensors, failed to open, and she was dragged 366 feet by the train before being pulled underneath and run over, severing one leg and severely mangling the other.

She sued Metra and in 1999, the case went to court. Metra argued that she made the choice not to pull her arm out of the strap of the violin case due to the value of the instrument, a 400-year-old Amati valued at around $500,000, and thus she carried most of the blame for her injuries. The jury decided otherwise, however, and awarded her $29 million. Metra changed its conductor safety procedures following the accident and made other changes to the trains themselves.

Career

After a 2-year hiatus to allow for recovery from her injuries and therapy, Barton Pine resumed her career. She has appeared as a soloist with symphonies around the world under conductors such as Charles Dutoit, Zubin Mehta, Neeme Järvi, Marin Alsop, Semyon Bychkov and Plácido Domingo. She has also appeared with Daniel Barenboim, Christoph Eschenbach and William Warfield. Her festival appearances include Marlboro, Ravinia, Montreal, Salzburg, and Salzburg’s Mozartwoche at the invitation of Franz Welser-Möst. Barton Pine performs chamber music as part of [http://www.myspace.com/triosettecento Trio Settecento] with David Schrader and [http://www.jmrozendaal.com/ John Mark Rozendaal] . She has often performed at schools and on rock music radio stations in an effort to interest younger audiences in classical music. Her current principal instrument is the 1742 “ex-Soldat” violin of Guarneri del Gesu. For 17th and 18th century pieces she prefers to use an unaltered 1770 instrument of Nicolò Gagliano I.

Her musical interests extend well beyond classical to Baroque, folk, Celtic, rock and jazz. She regularly instructs at Mark O'Connor's annual summer fiddle camp, and in 2004 released a CD in collaboration with Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser. Her taste in rock runs to heavy metal, with Van Halen, AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Anthrax, Metallica, Pantera, Slayer and Megadeth being among her favorites. She has met and jammed with a number of these, and in 1997 released a heavy-metal-inspired CD.

[http://www.aiartists.com/wmcglaughlin/reviews.html Bill McGlaughlin] called her a "musical Pac-Man" for her ability to take in and perform so many different kinds of music. [cite web
last = [http://www.aiartists.com/wmcglaughlin/reviews.html McGlaughlin, Bill]
first =
title = Gem of Chicago: Rachel Barton Pine, violin; Matthew Hagle, piano
work = Saint Paul Sunday
publisher = American Public Media
date = 2005-04-17
url = http://saintpaulsunday.publicradio.org/programs/564/
accessdate = 2007-09-29 ]

Rachel Elizabeth Barton Foundation

Barton Pine started a foundation ( [http://www.rebf.org rebf.org] ) bearing her maiden name in 2001 to promote the study and appreciation of classical music, including string music by black composers. It prepares music curricula ( [http://www.rebf.org/Library/The-String-Students-Library-of-Music-by-Black-Composers-Series-Inform.html e.g. 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, [http://www.rebf.org/content/view/63/97/ Global HeartStrings] , is dedicated to supporting aspiring classical musicians from developing countries. (In this effort Barton Pine has been [http://rachelbartonpine.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=265284# aided by a younger sister] , Hannah Barton, also a violinist.)

In 2006, after being nominated by Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, Barton Pine received the Studs Terkel [http://www.prairie.org/bios/studs/rachel-barton-pine Humanities Service Award] for her work through the foundation.

[http://classical.rachelbartonpine.com/recordings.php Discography]

*"Homage to Pablo de Sarasate" ( [http://classical.rachelbartonpine.com/rec_cd.php?id=1 info] ) with [http://www.answers.com/topic/samuel-sanders?cat=entertainment Samuel Sanders] (piano) - Dorian Recordings, 1994: DOR-90183
*"George Frideric Handel The Sonatas for Violin & Continuo" ( [http://classical.rachelbartonpine.com/rec_cd.php?id=2 info] ) with David Schrader (harpsichord) and [http://www.jmrozendaal.com/ John Mark Rozendaal] (cello) - Cedille Records, 1996: CDR 90000 032
*"Ferenc Liszt Works for Violin and Piano, Vol.1" ( [http://classical.rachelbartonpine.com/rec_cd.php?id=3 info] ) with [http://www.cameron.edu/~thomasl/ Thomas Labé] (Piano) - Dorian Recordings, 1997: DOR-90251
*"Violin Concertos by Black Composers of the 18th and 19th Centuries" ( [http://classical.rachelbartonpine.com/rec_cd.php?id=04 info] ) with the Encore Chamber Orchestra; Daniel Hege, conductor - Cedille Records, 1997: CDR 90000 035
*"" ( [http://classical.rachelbartonpine.com/rec_cd.php?id=5 info] ) with [http://www.edgargabriel.com/ Edgar Gabriel] (violin) and Brandon Vamos (cello) - Cacophony Records, 1997
*"Instrument of the Devil" ( [http://classical.rachelbartonpine.com/rec_cd.php?id=06 info] ) with David Schrader (harpsichord), [http://www.jmrozendaal.com/ John Mark Rozendaal] (cello) and [http://ccpa.roosevelt.edu/music/bios/yeh.htm John Bruce Yeh] (clarinet) - Cedille Records, 1998: CDR 90000 041
*"Double Play: Twentieth Century Duos for Violin and Cello" ( [http://classical.rachelbartonpine.com/rec_cd.php?id=07 info] ) with [http://wendywarnercello.com/ Wendy Warner] (cello) - Cedille Records, 1998: CDR 90000 047
*"Brahms and Joachim Violin Concertos" ( [http://classical.rachelbartonpine.com/rec_cd.php?id=08 info] ) with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Carlos Kalmar, conductor - Cedille Records, 2002: CDR 90000 068
*"Introduction, Theme, and Variations on “God Defend New Zealand”" ( [http://classical.rachelbartonpine.com/rec_cd.php?id=9 info] ) - Cacophony Records, 2002
*"Solo Baroque" ( [http://classical.rachelbartonpine.com/rec_cd.php?id=10 info] ) - Cedille Records, 2004: CDR 90000 078
*"Scottish Fantasies for Violin and Orchestra" ( [http://classical.rachelbartonpine.com/rec_cd.php?id=11 info] ) with Alasdair Fraser (fiddle) and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra; [http://www.alexanderplatt.com/ Alexander Platt] , conductor - Cedille Records, 2004: CDR 90000 083
*"American Virtuosa: Tribute to Maud Powell" ( [http://classical.rachelbartonpine.com/rec_cd.php?id=12 info] ) with [http://www.zoominfo.com/Search/PersonDetail.aspx?PersonID=40789261 Matthew Hagle] (piano) - Cedille Records, 2006: CDR 90000 097
*" [http://www.myspace.com/triosettecento Trio Settecento] : An Italian Sojourn" ( [http://classical.rachelbartonpine.com/rec_cd.php?id=13 info] ) with David Schrader (harpsichord) and [http://www.jmrozendaal.com/ John Mark Rozendaal] (cello) - Cedille Records, 2007: CDR 90000 099
*"Beethoven & Clement Violin Concertos" ( [http://classical.rachelbartonpine.com/rec_cd.php?id=14 info] ) with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; José Serebrier, conductor - Cedille Records, 2008: CDR 90000 106

References

* http://www.rachelbartonpine.com/

External links

* [http://www.rachelbartonpine.com/ Rachel Barton Pine's Official Website]
* [http://classical.rachelbartonpine.com/tour.php Rachel Barton Pine's tour dates]
* [http://www.myspace.com/rachelbartonpine Rachel Barton Pine's MySpace page]
* [http://www.rebf.org// Rachel Elizabeth Barton Foundation]
* [http://www.youtube.com/user/RachelBartonPine Rachel Barton Pine's YouTube channel]
* [http://rachelbartonpine.libsyn.com/ Rachel Barton Pine's podcast site]
* [http://flickr.com/photos/rachelbartonpine/ Rachel Barton Pine's Flickr photo page]
* [http://twitter.com/rbpviolinist Rachel Barton Pine's Twitter page]
* Howard Reich, Tribune arts critic, [http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/magazine/chi-080330barton-story,0,213024.story Comeback kid] "Chicago Tribune", March 29, 2008