RACHEL MERCER
Canadian Rachel Mercer began cello lessons at the age of three in Edmonton. She has performed across Canada, including concerts at the Vancouver Academy, the Glenn Gould Studio, Banff Centre, Heliconian Hall in Toronto, and with the Toronto Symphony and National Arts Centre Orchestras. After winning the Vriendenkrans Competition in Amsterdam, she made her recital debut in the Concertgebouw Kleine Zaal and the Vredenburg Utrecht. Rachel was a member of the Metro String Quartet from 1994-2000. In 1997 the quartet represented Canada at the International Music Week in Graz, Austria. Rachel joined the Aviv Quartet in 2002. First prize winner of the Melbourne and Bordeaux competitions, the quartet tours regularly on five continents. Rachel received her BM from U of T with Shauna Rolston, her MM from the New England Conservatory with Laurence Lesser, and a solo diploma from the Conservatorium van Amsterdam with Dmitri Ferschtman. “Rachel plays the 1824 McConnell Nicolaus Gagliano cello generously on loan from the Canada Council for the Arts”