Violinist Rachell Ellen Wong Joins CTM Classics Roster For Worldwide Representation

CTM Classics will welcome international prize-winning violinist Rachell Ellen Wong and her ensemble Twelfth Night to its artist roster for worldwide representation.

CTM Classics Artist Manager Marianne LaCrosse says, "Rachell is one of the most exciting and versatile artists on the concert stage today and with her first-rate level of musicianship and engaging personality, it is a joy to begin this journey together. I look forward to working with her to bring her artistry and that of her ensemble, Twelfth Night, to audiences around the country and beyond."

Violinist Rachell Ellen Wong also says, "I am excited to be joining the CTM Classics Artist Roster. Working with Marianne is perfect for me--not only does she truly care about her artists, but she is a wonderful musician and also a fellow Seattleite! I am looking forward to a great partnership together."

Wong joins international soloist cellist Amit Peled and the innovative Jasper String Quartet to compile a unique boutique roster that truly represents the 21st century artist that classical music needs these days.

A Seattle native, Wong is the recipient of a prestigious 2020 Avery Fisher Career Grant and the Grand Prize winner of the inaugural Lillian and Maurice Barbash J.S. Bach Competition. A rising star on both the historical performance and modern violin stages, she has performed throughout the United States and Canada, as well as the United Kingdom, Italy, Costa Rica, Panama, China, and New Zealand. Her growing reputation as a top historical performer has resulted in appearances with acclaimed ensembles such as the American Bach Soloists and The Academy of Ancient Music, and tours with Bach Collegium Japan and Les Arts Florissants. Equally accomplished on the modern violin, Wong has performed as a soloist with the Seattle Symphony, Philharmonia Northwest, and Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de Panama.

Wong's upcoming 2021-2022 engagements include: A Summer Afternoon Of Mozart, Beethoven Merriment with Alexander Weimann at Wisteria Hall in Seattle, presented by Early Music Seattle on August 29, 2021; Vivaldi's Summer with the American Classical Orchestra at Damrosch Park on September 22, 2021 as part of Lincoln Center's "Restart Stages" Reunion concert; and a program of Bach, Biber and Westhoff at the Staller Center Recital Hall at Stony Brook University on October 3, 2021.

She is also a founding member, along with keyboardist David Belkovski, of the dynamic ensemble Twelfth Night, which focuses on music from all periods performed on historical instruments. CTM Classics is pleased to represent Twelfth Night as well. Watch Twelfth Night perform Telemann's Sonata à 4 in A Minor, TWV 43:a5.

Recipient of a prestigious 2020 Avery Fisher Career Grant - the only baroque artist in the respected program's history - and Grand Prize winner of the inaugural Lillian and Maurice Barbash J.S. Bach Competition, violinist Rachell Ellen Wong is a rising star on both the historical performance and modern violin stages. She has performed throughout the United States and Canada, as well as in the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Poland, Costa Rica, Panama, China, and New Zealand. Her growing reputation as one of the top historical performers of her generation has resulted in appearances with renowned early music ensembles such as the American Bach Soloists and The Academy of Ancient Music, and tours with Bach Collegium Japan, Les Arts Florissants, among others. Equally accomplished on the modern violin, Ms. Wong made her first public appearance with the Philharmonia Northwest at age 11 and has since performed as a soloist with such orchestras as Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Panamá and the Seattle Symphony. Rachell made her conducting debut with the Seattle Symphony last fall when she directed Vivaldi's Four Seasons from the violin.

Following performances with Gotham Early Music Scene in New York, Yale Schola Cantorum in Oslo, Norway, at Sonoma's Valley of the Moon Music Festival, with the American Bach Soloists in San Francisco, The Academy of Ancient Music in the UK, Bach Collegium Japan in Warsaw, Poland, and with Les Arts Florissants at France's Festival Thire. Rachell served as a 2019-2020 Mercury Chamber Orchestra Juilliard Fellow, and as an American Fellow of The English Concert. Engagements included performances for the Kaufman Center's Musical Storefront Series, with New Amsterdam Consort, Ruckus, Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado, Voices of Music, Byron Schenkman & Friends, Smithsonian Chamber Music Society, and New York Baroque Incorporated. Recitals included New York's Island Symphony Bach Festival, with Twelfth Night, and the Heifetz International Music Institute. Chamber music performances included appearances (some postponed) with the Jupiter Ensemble in Paris, for the Lakewold Gardens Series (WA), and with Shanghai Camerata in Shanghai, China.

Alongside acclaimed keyboardist David Belkovski, Rachell is co-founder of Twelfth Night. Their NYC-based ensemble is structured to navigate all genres and instrumentation with ease, and they perform in all historic styles, from the early baroque to the contemporary. She is also a founding member of the NYC-based New Amsterdam Concert, a period-instrument string ensemble specializing in one-on-a-part performances of music from the Renaissance through the high Baroque.

Notable past concerts include performing the Sibelius Violin Concerto with the Orquesta Sinfonica in Costa Rica, Bottesini's Gran Duo Concertante with the Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de Panama, recitals with world-renowned pianists Anton Nel and Byron Schenkman, and a 16 concert, four-city tour of New Zealand with the New Zealand String Quartet which included the New Zealand premiere of Alexander Ekman's Cacti for on stage string quartet and ballet with the Royal New Zealand Ballet, and a recital in Wellington, New Zealand featuring works by Bartok, Schubert and Beethoven, also with the New Zealand String Quartet. She also regularly performs as Artist-in-Residence with the Heifetz International Music Institute in Staunton, Virginia.

A native of Seattle, Washington, Rachell counts among her numerous awards and honors grand prizes in the 52nd Sorantin International String Competition, the International Crescendo Music Awards, the Heida Hermann's International Competition, and Seattle's Gallery Concert's Next Generation Competition. She is the recipient of a 2021 Jeffrey Thomas Award, a 2019 Benzaquen Career Advancement Grant from The Juilliard School; a 2017 Kovner Fellowship, also from The Juilliard School; a 2013 Barbara and David Jacobs Fellowship Award and a 2013 Artist Excellence Award, both from Indiana University; a Distinguished Performance, King Award at the 2012 Young Artists National Competition; the Starling Distinguished Violinist Scholarship from UT-Austin, from 2009 - 2013, and the 2009 Cascade Symphony's Mori Simon Scholarship, of which she was the first recipient.

A recent graduate, Rachell holds a Masters in Music in Historical Performance from The Juilliard School in New York City, where she moved after receiving her Masters in Music from Indiana University and a Bachelors of Music from The University of Texas at Austin. Teachers include Brian Lewis, Cynthia Roberts, Elizabeth Blumenstock, Kent Coleman, Mark Kaplan, Monica Huggett, Rachel Podger, Simon James, and Stanley Ritchie. She performs on a baroque violin from the school of Joachim Tielke and a violin made by Carlo de March.