Rachel Kuipers Yonan

Recognized for her expressive playing and elegant style, violist RACHEL YONAN enjoys a rich and varied career as recitalist, artistic director, commentator and champion of chamber music. She has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician in concert halls across the United States, England, Switzerland, Italy, Austria and China; and on National Public Radio and Canadian Public Radio.

A lover of chamber music, Rachel co-founded the Marinus Ensemble with her brother, cellist Joseph Kuipers. Praised by the Philadelphia Inquirer as “perfectly balanced”, Marinus is a passionate group of artists, dedicated to engaging audiences through interactive performance of great music. They have performed for such series as the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Curtis Presents, and WRTI Performance Studio. Integrating her interest in music and philosophy, Rachel is a Visiting Scholar at Jesus College, University of Cambridge where her scholarship focuses on the role of music in personal formation and flourishing. She received funding for this project through Duke University as the inaugural McDonald Agape Fellow in Theology and Music. Beyond her own innovative work with Marinus, Rachel has been invited to perform at prestigious festivals such as the Marlboro Music Festival, Open Chamber Music Prussia Cove, Festival Mozaic and Taos Music Festival. Ms. Yonan has collaborated with Itzhak Perlman, Roberto Díaz, Joseph Silverstein, James Dunham and Robert Levin; joined the Dover and Escher Quartets for chamber concerts; and worked extensively with Pamela Frank, Peter Wiley and Edgar Meyer.

While Ms. Yonan has had the honor of performing around the world in major concert venues such as Carnegie Hall, Verizon Hall and King’s College Chapel Cambridge, she is equally at home engaging audiences in more intimate venues through her work with Marinus. She successfully launched a new series—Marinus Concerts—that offers immersive and inviting concert experiences in scenic Virginia wineries. Rachel is Creative Director of Marinus, and has taught viola performance and chamber music at Duke University. She is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and Rice University. Rachel plays a Gabrielle Kundert viola modeled on a Camillo Camilli viola from 1739.