Rachel Panitch is a Boston-based violinist, improviser, composer, and teaching artist. She has been an artist-in-residence in neighborhoods, in schools, and in Zion and Acadia National Parks. She is the 2019 recipient of the W.K. Rose Fellowship in the Creative Arts. With Thread Ensemble, Rachel creates participatory works for audience, vibraphone and violins. The group’s work has been awarded a Live Arts Boston grant from The Boston Foundation, and was brought to Cyprus’ Faneromeni19 Festival by the Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation. Rachel performs new Classical music by women with Cardamom Quartet, is a dance fiddler with French Roast and plays with singer-songwriter-storyteller Bill Harley. Rachel’s original music is featured on a PBS Utah Bucket List episode, and the National Park Service’s “100 Years of Arts in the Parks” video series. She is a member of the Landscape Music Composers Network.
Rachel specializes in teaching improvisation and creative music-making, and is a Resident Musician with musiConnects. In 2009, Rachel founded Rhode Island Fiddle Project, a free music program teaching traditional fiddle and dance music to students ages 7-17. Rachel worked for many years with nationally-recognized Community MusicWorks in Providence, RI, where she completed a Fellowship that inspired and incubated RI Fiddle Project. She was chosen as a 2015-2017 Jubilation Fellow, a national award recognizing “individuals with an exceptional talent for helping young people feel fully alive through rhythm." She is a META (Music Educators & Teaching Artists) Fellow for 2018-2020 through the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
Rachel received her Masters of Music in Contemporary Improvisation from New England Conservatory, and holds a BA in Anthropology from Vassar College.
Photo by David Marshall
