Rachel Jung is a 17-year-old high school student in the Bellevue School District Advanced Learning Program in WA. She began playing violin at age 6 and joined a youth symphony at age 7. Since then she has won numerous 1st place awards at violin competitions including: Seattle MTA ; Simon-Fiset receiving the Kent Coleman Memorial Trophy & Verna Powell Award, Seattle Russian Festival, Seattle Bach and Classical Viennese Festival, Korean Music Association, The Elite International Music Competition, The OPUS National Music Competition, WMEA State Solo & Ensemble and the Performing Arts Festival of the Eastside receiving the Engstrom Memorial Award and the Edgar Borup Memorial Award and the concerto playoffs 1st place award. Rachel was also selected as a 2025 National YoungArts Award Winner and a Grand Prix winner of Bellevue Symphony Concerto Competition. Most recently, she won the “DTMA” award with $2,000 scholarship from Music of Remembrance and is invited to perform with them in the coming season.
Rachel has performed as a soloist with the Seattle Symphony at Benaroya Hall, Bainbridge Symphony and the Eastside Symphony after winning their Young Artist Competitions. She gave a 20 minute live solo performance for Music Under the Stars summer event hosted by the Seattle Chamber Music Society. She performed at Carnegie Hall in New York City and at Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas, TX with the National Youth Orchestra in 2024.
Rachel has also performed with the Northwest Sinfonia Orchestra for the Northwest Boychoir & Vocal point Holiday Concert in 2024. In 2025 summer, she will study with Robert Lipsett at Sounding Point Academy at Colburn School in CA and Naoko Tanaka at the Aspen Music Festival and School in CO. She currently studies with Simon James, collaborative pianist Chien-Lin Lu, and music theory with Hiro David, having previously studied with Jan Coleman and Anna-Ruth Boyce.
As an avid chamber musician, she has participated in Seattle Chamber Music Society Academy and her piano quintet and piano trio were featured on Classical KING FM 98.1 Northwest Focus Live. Her piano trio made the Top 10 list of most-watched videos in April 2025 on NPR Live Sessions and also won the 2nd Prize at the 2025 Coltman National Chamber Music Competition in TX. They were also invited to Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition in IN. She has performed in a string quartet with Seattle Symphony violist Mara Gearman and performed in a string quintet alongside Seattle Symphony cellist Nathan Chan and violist Marta Lambert.
Other than violin, Rachel has won medals in her early years in piano competitions such as Seattle Bach and Classical Viennese Festival. And she is an avid choir singer and has performed in trio, quartet, jazz and chamber choirs at her high school.
She has participated in math competitions and qualified for the American Invitational Mathematics Exam (AIME). And she is a semifinalist of the National Merit Scholarship Program and AP scholar with distinction. She also received 2nd place in the Northwest Chinese Essay Writing Contest. Rachel believes in giving back to her community through performances at senior assisted-living facilities and also offers free online violin tutoring through her personal website.
Dvorak violin concerto in A minor, Op. 53 1st mvt 10:54
