Violinist Rachel Barton Pine to Teach Students From ROSIE'S HOUSE: A MUSIC ACADEMY FOR CHILDREN, 1/16

Three students from Rosie's House: A Music Academy for Children have been selected for a special Master Class to be taught by concert violinist Rachel Barton Pine during the upcoming Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) exhibition Stradivarius: Origins and Legacy of the Greatest Violin Maker on Saturday, Jan. 16.

The opportunity for the students, which also includes a field trip to MIM for more than 50 Rosie's House students and staff to tour the exhibit and participate in an interactive talk with Pine in MIM Music Theater, is part of a collaboration among Rosie's House, MIM and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Students participating in the Master Class from 10:30 a.m. until noon are Marcus Wolf, 15, from Phoenix who plays viola; Tyra Schmidt, 16, from Tempe, who plays violin; and Chelsea Mendoza, 16, from Tempe, who plays cello.

The three students also will perform in MIM's "el Rio" reception area for guests prior to Pine's Sunday night exhibition-opening concert. All students will attend the concert.

"This is a remarkable opportunity for our students to learn from one of the world's great, internationally acclaimed musicians who also understands our mission through her own personal experience," said Rosie's House Executive Director Becky Ballard.

After the Master Class, the students will have lunch, tour the exhibition from 12:30 to 1:45 p.m. and participate in the interactive talk from 2-3 p.m.

Pine, described by The Washington Post as "an exciting boundary-defying performer" who "displays a power and confidence that puts her in the top echelon," debuted with the Chicago Symphony at age 10. She was the first American and youngest-ever gold medal winner at the International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition.

Today, at 41, she is in the midst of a season performance schedule that includes concertos by Beethoven, Brahms, Bruch, Dvorak, Mozart, Sibelius and Vivaldi. In March, Avie Records will release Pine's performance of J.S. Bach's Six Sonatas and Partitas for Violin, recorded in the same church where, at three years old, she first experienced Bach and fell in love with the violin.

She recently celebrated the release of Mozart: Complete Violin Concertos with conductor Sir Neville Marriner and The Academy of St. Martin the Fields.

"One of the most important aspects of our mission at the Musical Instrument Museum is education, and this particular collaboration is special because we know it will be the first time most of these students have been to MIM. The added bonus is an opportunity to experience the incredible caliber of artistry that Rachel Barton Pine brings to the stage," said April Salomon, executive director of MIM. "Rosie's House is a vitally important organization in the Valley for underserved children who reap the benefits of a first-class music education."

Rosie's House is the only 100 percent free afterschool music academy in Arizona. Accredited by the National Guild for Community Arts Education, Rosie's House delivers high-quality free music education programming to more than 400 youth from low-income families. Afterschool instruction is provide in strings, winds, piano, choir and mariachi, and students receive free loaned instruments, mentorship and performance opportunities.

For more information about the Musical Instrument Museum, visit www.mim.org. For more information about Rosie's House: A Music Academy for Children, visit www.rosieshouse.org.

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