Blind from birth, Rachel was born in Bridgend, South Wales in 1994. She has received formal training on the piano since 2006 with Alison Bowring and studied at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (RWCMD) where she recently achieved a distinction in piano performance as a postgraduate student (MMus).

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Rachel completed a six month Erasmus placement at the Conservatori Liceu in Barcelona under the tutelage of pianist Alba Ventura.

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As a student at RWCMD, Rachel has enjoyed masterclasses with the Labèque Sisters, Stephen Osborne, Peter Jablonski, Angela Hewitt and Valentina Lisitsa. Additionally, she received guidance at the annual NLPS summer course at the Purcell school with renowned professors Dr Michael Schreider (Guildhall), Irina Osipova (Moscow), Irina Berkovich (Israel) and William Fong (RAM).

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Rachel's piano improvisation skills complement her love of jazz and she currently leads a jazz trio 'The Rachel Starritt Trio',  which appeared at the Brecon Jazz Festival in 2020 and 2021. At Chetham’s Piano Summer School she studied with Nikki Iles and Douglas Finch and has also received lessons with the renowned Welsh pianist and composer Huw Warren.

 

Having delivered several acclaimed performances in local competitions and nationally, Rachel has also played piano at a number of venues and private functions with diverse music genres including classical, jazz and contemporary/popular culture. 

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Rachel also has a talent for languages with fluency in both Welsh and Spanish and conversational competence in French and Italian. At the 2021 Brecon Jazz Festival she frequently appeared as an announcer, introducing acts in both Welsh and English, sharing these duties with violinist Heulwen Thomas.

 

Rachel is a member of the British Paraorchestra and sponsored by Help Musicians UK.