Rachel Segal
Violinist Rachel Segal has enjoyed an exciting and varied career both at home and abroad. Her career highlights include more than a decade as a member of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, as well as posts in Europe with the Tampere Filharmonia in Finland and as interim Concertmaster of the Orquestra Sinfonica Portuguesa in Lisbon, Portugal. She served as Concertmaster of the Central City Opera for twelve seasons and began her career as Concertmaster of the South Bend Symphony. Rachel performs frequently as a core member of the Fairmount String Quartet and with PostClassical Ensemble in Washington, D.C. She is a regular substitute violinist with the Philly Pops, the Pennsylvania Ballet Orchestra, Academy of Vocal Arts, and the Philadelphia Orchestra.
Having begun her violin studies at age three in the Suzuki Method, Rachel grew up participating in the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra, The New York String Orchestra Seminar, Temple University Center for Gifted Young Musicians, and the Settlement School. She received her Bachelor of Music degree from The University of Michigan in the studio of Paul Kantor and her Master of Music degree from The Yale School of Music in the studio of Sidney Harth. Other teachers include Jerome Wigler and Barbara Govatos of the Philadelphia Orchestra.
Her intense love of music and its ability to transform people has inspired Rachel’s educational work. She has held faculty positions at Regis University, Community College of Aurora, and Luzerne Music Center. The Primavera Fund, her largest project to date, disrupts inequity in classical music through mentoring and financially sustaining the musical ambitions of young, talented Philadelphians. As Associate Director of The Philadelphia Young Musicians Orchestra and conductor of the Penn Youth Advanced String ensemble, she shares her experience with young musicians in a direct teaching atmosphere every week.
Rachel is a graduate of the University of Michigan and Yale School of Music and lives in Philadelphia with her two beagles.
