Rachel Lee Zhao is a violinist born and raised in the lush farmland of the Shenandoah Valley, VA. She graduated from Oberlin Conservatory with a Bachelors in Violin Performance, earned her Masters of Music degree in Violin Performance from Roosevelt University and graduated from Shenandoah University with an Artist Diploma. Rachel is currently pursuing a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Violin Performance with Jennifer Frautschi, Philip Setzer, Hagai Shaham, and Arnaud Sussmann. Her primary teachers have included Almita Vamos, Akemi Takayama, and David Bowlin. As an avid orchestral and chamber musician, Rachel is currently a nationally touring member of Chrysalis Chamber Players and the New Orchestra of Washington. She is also a part of the Emerson String Quartet Intensive as a member of the Harlo Quartet, receiving weekly coaching with members of the Emerson String Quartet. As well as having a love for chamber music, Rachel has a deep passion for teaching. For the 2023-2024 school year she joined the faculty of Shenandoah University as an Adjunct Instructor of Applied Violin and is currently a chamber coach at Stony Brook University. Rachel is also an active freelancer in NYC and DC, and has played for diplomats in venues such as the Japanese Ambassador’s Residence in DC, and at the Kennedy Center with the New Orchestra of Washington. In February 2024, Rachel performed a chamber concert with Gene Drucker from the Emerson String Quartet and in March 2024, Rachel performed the world premiere of Margaret Schedel’s Concerto for Violin and Percussion at the DiMena Center in NYC. Rachel is inspired by contemporary chamber music, and hopes to continue to promote and collaborate with young composers, creating sustainable art for the future.