A Long-Awaited Collaboration Takes Shape

Violinist Rachel Barton Pine and the Grammy-winning Pacifica Quartet are finally realizing a musical dream more than two decades in the making. While they’ve each built remarkable international careers, this marks their first full album together — an exciting collaboration rooted in deep history, shared mentorship, and artistic kinship.

Rachel and the members of Pacifica grew up, musically, side by side. Pine studied violin with Anita and Roland Vamos from age ten to 17, developing alongside their son, cellist Brandon Vamos, and eventual daughter-in-law, violinist Simin Ganatra, both founding members of the Pacifica Quartet. 

Rachel Barton Pine reflected, “Playing chamber music with world-class colleagues is always a special treat, but when they’re dear friends, it’s even more magical.”

On July 11, Cedille Records will release French Impressions: Chamber Music by Chausson & Taillefere, featuring Pine, pianist Orion Weiss, and the Pacifica Quartet. These expressive French chamber works not only showcase their interpretive depth, but also highlight the warm musical rapport between longtime friends. The program will feature Ernst Chausson’s Concert for violin, piano, and string quartet, Op. 21 and the 1919 String Quartet plus works for violin and piano by 20^th-century French composer Germaine Tailleferre. Tailleferre was the only woman in the celebrated group of composers known as “Les Six.” Her alluring music is a response to both the heavy German Romanticism of Richard Wagner and the dense chromaticism and lush textures of Claude Debussy.

This album, born of decades-long friendship and a shared musical heritage, is a testament to the impact of your support. Thanks to Cedille’s donor-supported mission, artists like Rachel and Pacifica can pursue projects driven not by commercial trends, but by artistic passion.