We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Rachell Ellen Wong. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Rachell below.

Rachell, appreciate you joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

The most meaningful project I have worked on is starting my ensemble, Twelfth Night. Named after the Shakespeare play, Twelfth Night is a historically informed ensemble, and we perform music from the early baroque to the contemporary. I am grateful to not be doing it on my own and to have the best co-director David Belkovski partnering with me to create our ideal ensemble.

David and I met in 2018 at the Juilliard School. We started playing together and realized we had similar musical energy, drive, and a vision for what we wanted to do in life. So it naturally happened that we both decided to found Twelfth Night. We faced many challenges debuting our group right in the thick of the pandemic in 2021, but have managed to find much success, and have been regularly performing throughout the US. We are most excited about our debut in Carnegie Hall this May.

It has been such an adventure learning how to create an ensemble from scratch! I have had to learn so many skills outside of school, ranging from how to pitch concerts to presenters, to how to create an LLC, or how to get fiscally sponsored. I could go on and on. (It has made me question why these music business skills are not taught while we are in school.) We have also just started our own series in NYC, trying to reach audiences who normally wouldn’t be listening to classical music and trying to break down the barriers and stereotypes that most people think of for classical music performances.

Rachell, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m a classically trained violinist that travels and performs all over the world. I live in Manhattan where my ensemble Twelfth Night is based.

I started playing violin when I was 6 years old. I was lucky enough to have supportive parents who practiced with me and came to everything I played in. I participated in many concerts and competitions, which lead me to study violin performance for my undergraduate degree at the University of Texas at Austin. The four years I had in Austin were very formative and it was there I learned that music was something I needed to do in my life. This was largely in part because of my teacher and mentor, violinist Brian Lewis. After UT, I did a masters degree at Indiana University, which has one of the largest music programs in the US. I discovered the baroque violin there, which led me to decide to move to New York to attend The Juilliard School. I earned another masters degree in Historical Performance at Juilliard. Right before the pandemic I learned that I received the Avery Fisher Career Grant, being the first period violinist to receive the award. Since then, I have been performing and leading groups, in addition to starting Twelfth Night with my close friend, harpsichordist David Belkovski.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being a musician is getting to meet so many incredible people in incredible places. I make sure that wherever I travel to, I try to gt to know the people who live there, and see what their life is like. I love that music is a “universal language” and that even if I don’t know the language spoken in the place I’m visiting, I can still communicate with people, which is such a privilege for me. I’ve met many life long friends this way, and look forward to meeting more.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I actually started during the pandemic, since all my concerts were canceled. I needed to work for something, so I decided to document my practice on social media, which worked very well! I made a lot of online friends, who also started practicing with me. I then started focusing on the violin music of Bach, which I found a good following through Instagram. I’m still working on my presence, but something I learned was just do what you love to do, and don’t try to force a personality. Be yourself, and don’t worry about being perfect!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.rachellwong.com
• Instagram: @rachellviolin
• Facebook: /rachellviolin
• Youtube: /rachellviolin
• Other: www.twelfthnightensemble.com

Image Credits
Lucien Knutson, Lauren Desberg, Mei Stone, Rodrigo Rosenthal