Rachel Podger

"There is probably no more inspirational musician working today than Podger” (Gramophone). Over the last two decades Rachel Podger has established herself as a leading interpreter of the Baroque and Classical music periods and has been described as “the queen of the baroque violin” (Sunday Times). In October 2015 Rachel was the first woman to be awarded the prestigious Royal Academy of Music/Kohn Foundation Bach Prize. She was educated in Germany and in England at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she studied with David Takeno and Micaela Comberti.

As a director and soloist, Rachel has enjoyed countless collaborations with musicians all over the world. Highlights include Jordi Savall, Masaaki Suzuki, The Academy of Ancient Music, Holland Baroque Society, Berwick Academy (USA), the Handel and Haydn Society (USA), Tafelmusik (Toronto), Berkeley Early Music (USA), Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, European Union Baroque Orchestra, English Concert, and The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. She has performed as a soloist at the Göttingen Handel Festival in Germany, the Izmir Festival in Turkey, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and Wigmore Hall. Rachel is currently collaborating and touring with Kristian Bezuidenhout in a programme of Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven. She is resident artist at Kings Place for their 2016 season titled Baroque Unwrapped.

Rachel records exclusively for Channel Classics with over 25 discs including the complete Mozart Sonatas. She has won numerous awards including two Baroque Instrumental Gramophone Awards for La Stravaganza (2003) and Biber Rosary Sonatas (2016), the Diapason d’Or de l’année in the Baroque Ensemble category for her recording of the La Cetra Vivaldi concertos with Holland Baroque (2012), a BBC Music Magazine Award in the instrumental category for Guardian Angel (2014), and multiple Diapasons d’Or. The complete Vivaldi L’Estro Armonico concertos (2015) with Brecon Baroque was Record of the Month for both BBC Music and Gramophone Magazines, won the concerto category of the 2016 BBC Music Magazine Award, was awarded a Diapason d’Or and was shortlisted for a Gramophone Award (2015). The latest recording, Bach Art of Fugue, with Brecon Baroque was released in September 2016. Upcoming recordings include C18 Italian (2017), Vivaldi Four Seasons (2017) and solo Bach (2018).