Rachel Atkinson is one of Australia’s most talented young cellists. After studying cello with Georg Pedersen at the New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music she was awarded an Associated Board Scholarship and a Butland Music Foundation Grant to study with David Strange at the Royal Academy of Music, London. While at the Academy she was awarded the Frederic Moore Memorial Prize and the Frank Reizenstein Prize as cellist of the Sarastro Trio. Rachel has performed in masterclasses with Lynn Harrell, Ofra Harnoy and Zara Nelsova. In 1992 she won a grant from the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council to further her studies with William Pleeth.

Rachel has toured Canada and New Zealand as a soloist with the Auckland Youth Orchestra and recorded for Radio New Zealand. She has given premieres of many contemporary works and has appeared as solo recitalist in New Zealand, Britain, Turkey, Germany, Holland, Malaysia and Israel.

Atkinson is currently performing with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

“Rachel’s interpretation is full of vitality and extreme sensitivity. She displays maturity in depth of expression and technical ability. with ease she shows highly rhythmic passages and lyrical lines.” (Süddeutsche Zeitung)