Recipient of a prestigious 2020 Avery Fisher Career Grant - the only early music 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 in numerous countries spanning five continents. Her growing reputation as one of the top historical performers of her generation has resulted in appearances with renowned ensembles such as the Academy of Ancient Music, American Bach Soloists, Jupiter Ensemble (led by lutenist Thomas Dunford), Bach Collegium Japan, Les Arts Florissants, and others. Equally accomplished on the modern violin, Rachell made her first public appearance with Philharmonia Northwest at age 11 and has since performed as a soloist with orchestras such as Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Panamá and the Seattle Symphony. Rachell made her conducting debut with the Seattle Symphony in 2020 when she directed Vivaldi’s Four Seasons from the violin. She also serves as concertmaster of Seattle Baroque Orchestra.

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Alongside acclaimed keyboardist David Belkovski, Rachell is co-founder of Twelfth Night, an ensemble structured to navigate all genres and instrumentation with ease, from the early baroque to the contemporary. Founded in 2021, Twelfth Night’s notable engagements include Music Before 1800, Reno’s Apex Concert Series, Arizona Early Music, and Chatham Baroque. Rachell is also a founding member of New Amsterdam Consort, a period-instrument string ensemble specializing in one-on-a-part performances of music from the Renaissance through the high Baroque.

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Highlights of Rachell’s 2022-2023 season include Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the Auburn Symphony (WA), Beethoven Violin Concerto with the Richmond Symphony (IN), and recitals for UC Berkeley’s Cal Performances, Edinburgh Music Festival, and the Washington Bach Consort in DC. 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 keyboardists Anton Nel, Byron Schenkman, and Alexander Weimann, and a sixteen-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. Rachell also regularly performs as Artist-in-Residence with the Heifetz International Music Institute in Staunton, Virginia, and is on faculty at the Valley of the Moon Music Institute in Sonoma, CA. Rachell is also an American Fellow of The English Concert. 

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Originally from 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 Barbara and David Jacobs Fellowship Award and an Artist Excellence Award, both from Indiana University; and a Starling Distinguished Violinist Scholarship from UT-Austin.

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Rachell holds a Masters of Music degree in Historical Performance from the Juilliard School where she was a recipient of a Kovner Fellowship and a Benzaquen Career Advancement Grant. She also has a Master of Music degree from Indiana University and a Bachelors of Music from the University of Texas at Austin. Her primary teachers include Brian Lewis, Cynthia Roberts, Elizabeth Blumenstock, Kent Coleman, Mark Kaplan, Monica Huggett, Rachel Podger, Simon James, and Stanley Ritchie. Rachell performs on a baroque violin from the school of Joachim Tielke ca. 1700, and a violin made in 1953 by Carlo de March.