Rachel Podger

“There is probably no more inspirational musician working today.” Gramophone

Over the last two decades Rachel Podger has established herself as a leading interpreter of the music of the baroque and classical periods. She was educated in Germany and in England at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. She now holds the Chair of Baroque Violin both at the Royal Academy of Music and at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. This year she has been giving master-classes and performances at the Juilliard School in New York, and was awarded the RAM’s prestigious ‘Bach Prize’. She directs her own ensemble Brecon Baroque and is Artistic Director of the Brecon Baroque Festival.

Rachel records exclusively for Channel Classics and has won numerous awards including several Diapasons d’Or. Her interpretations of Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin and for Violin and Harpsichord (with Trevor Pinnock) were both awarded first place in the BBC’s series ‘Building a Library’. Her recording of Vivaldi’s L’Estro Armonico with Brecon Baroque, released this year, was Record of the Month in both BBC Music Magazine and The Gramophone. She tours internationally both as soloist and with her own ensemble.

For the Weston Music Society she will be playing several solo works from her CD ‘Guardian Angel’ by Biber and Tartini, and including two of JS Bach’s Partitas for solo violin.