Rachel Schmidt

Her father was a concertmaster and became her first violin teacher. Rachel Schmidt was twelve when she made her concert debut with the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester of Bremen. She then began her studies at the music academies of Hamburg, Lübeck and Saarbrücken, from 1991 to 1995 completing her training as an orchestral musician with Valery Klimov at the Saar Hochschule. A DAAD fellowship allowed her to attend the master class of Igor Ozim in Berne. Further studies followed from 1998 to 2000 with Thomas Brandis at the Hochschule der Künste in Berlin, concluding with her concert exam. Meanwhile, she was accumulating practical experience playing in various conservatory orchestras, at the Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester in Saarbrücken, with the RIAS-Jugendorchester and the European Festival Orchestra. Since joining the Berliner Philharmoniker, she plays in a variety of chamber-music ensembles, including the Philharmonic String Soloists, the Berlin Philharmonic Camerata and the Venus Ensemble.