Rachelle Betancourt, Violin

Since making her solo debut with orchestra at the age of nine, American violinist Rachelle Betancourt has appeared as a soloist with orchestras throughout the United States, Europe, and South America. Since 2011, she has held a full-time position as a violinist in the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra (Hessischer Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester). Additionally in recent years, she has appeared as a soloist with ensembles such as the Strings of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra (Germany), the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival Chamber Orchestra (Germany), the Neue Philharmonie Westfalen (Germany), the Orquesta Filharmónica de Ecuador (Ecuador), and the Rice University Shepherd School Symphony Orchestra (USA). Ms. Betancourt has been a prize- winner in both national and international competitions, including capturing the first prize at the Kingsville International Senior Solo Competition. She has performed as a soloist in such venues as the Concert Hall and Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center and Strathmore Hall in Maryland, as well as being heard on the nationally broadcast “From the Top” on NPR. She has also been featured on the public radio stations hr2 and hr3 in Germany and on ValeTV in Venezuela.
A passionate chamber musician, Ms. Betancourt has performed throughout three continents, and has played and worked with musicians such as Ida Bieler, Christoph Eschenbach, Norman Fischer, Lynn Harrell, Cho-Liang Lin, Antonio Meneses, Jon Kimura Parker and Margo Tatgenhorst-Drakos. She has appeared in chamber music recitals in halls such as the Robert-Schumann- Saal in Düsseldorf, Germany and also at the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival in Germany.
Ms. Betancourt received her Bachelor of Music Degree, Summa Cum Laude, from Rice University under Kathleen Winkler. In 2008 she received a full grant from the Fulbright Commission to study in Germany for a year, and the following school year, she received the Wagoner Foreign Study Scholarship from Rice University to continue her studies for another full year. In 2010, she received her Konzertexamen Diplom with Highest Distinction (Auszeichnung), the highest degree in musical performance in Germany, from the Robert Schumann Hochschule für Musik in Düsseldorf under the tutelage of Ida Bieler. Most recently, she was also awarded a Chamber Music Certificate with Highest Distinction (Auszeichnung) from the Robert-Schumann Hochschule. During her studies, she was promoted by Yehudi Menuhin’s Live Music Now organization. She teaches in the Orchestral Academy of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra and during the summers, she is on the faculty of Manhattan School of Music's Music Camp in New York City. She has given masterclasses and taught in the USA, Europe, Ecuador and Venezuela.