Sunday, July 9, 2023
3:00PM
McKnight Hall

Twenty-five year old pianist Rachel Breen has been described as “an extraordinarily skilled pianist with a gift for memorization,” having “a beautiful piano sound and original detail.” She received her bachelor’s degree with academic honors from the Juilliard School, and her master’s degree from the Yale School of Music, where she studied with–respectively– Julian Martin and Boris Slutsky. Previously, she was a student of Dr. Sharon Mann at the San Francisco Conservatory; until age 10, she was self-taught. She is currently a Soloklasse artist at the Hannover Hochschule für Musik under Lars Vogt, and is based in both Europe and the United States. 

Breen has enjoyed an active competition career, having received the 4th prize and Dr. Dichler special prize in the Beethoven International Competition (Vienna, Austria); the first prize at the Georges Cziffra International Competition (Senlis, France); the first prize at the Nuova Coppa Pianisti International Competition (Osimo, Italy); the second prize at the Livorno International Piano Competition (Tuscany, Italy); the second prize and special prize at the Gallinari International Competition (Bologna, Italy); the second prize, audience prize, critic’s jury prize, SAT prize, and award for best performance of a work by Clara Schumann at the Premio Melini competition (Trento, Italy); the third prize at the Spanish Composers International Competition (Madrid, Spain); the award for best solo performance at the Arthur Fraser International Piano Competition (Charleston, SC); the first prize at the Mondavi National Competition; as well as having being selected as a National YoungArts Finalist, the 2021-23 National Federation of Music Clubs’ Young Artist, and having received the 2021 Kurt Alten Prize at her university in Hannover. She was recently selected as one of ten semifinalists in the Honens International Piano Competition, at which she will perform in October of 2022. 

Breen has performed and taught masterclasses around the United States, as well as in Argentina, Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Germany, Austria, and Hungary. She is featured in the 2021 podcast 30 Bach alongside Jeremy Denk, Angela Hewitt, Tim Page, and Simone Dinnerstein in a discussion and performance of the Goldberg Variations. In August 2022, her CD recording of solo and chamber works by Chen Yi, Ulysses Kay, Leslie Adams, Fanny Hensel, and Luise Greger will be released through the New Muses project. 

Aside from piano, Breen has an interest in languages, having received first prize on the National Latin Exam and third prize on the National French Exam. She spends her spare time running, exploring philosophy and visual arts, and forgetting to answer important emails.