rachylduffy_400Called “splendid,” violist Rachyl Duffy burst onto the classical music scene on both coasts in 2015 by taking top prize in both the International Hugo Kauder Competition for Viola and the prestigious Pasadena Showcase House Instrumental Competition in the span of five months. She has also performed as a soloist with orchestras in Delaware, Pennsylvania and North Carolina. Her review in Classical Voice of North Carolina describes Ms. Duffy “bravely tackling the many soliloquies and floating effortlessly above the large orchestra. Her intonation was impeccable, her tone warm and passionate and her vibrato expressive and suited to the mood.”

A dedicated chamber musician, Ms. Duffy has performed with such artists as Scott St. John and Augustin Hadelich. She has twice attended the Kneisel Hall Summer Music Festival in Maine, and has performed chamber music as faculty at the Porterville Summer Strings program for underprivileged students and as artist-in-residence at Bellingham Music Festival. A passionate teacher, Ms. Duffy has also taught at all three programs, coaching chamber music at Kneisel Hall’s Program for Maine Students as well as coaching soloists, chamber groups and orchestras in Porterville and Bellingham. She was a Teaching Fellow at the Colburn Conservatory and has her own private studio.

Rachyl Duffy joined the San Diego Symphony in 2016 while completing her Master of Music degree at the Colburn Conservatory of Music with Paul Coletti. She became the youngest member of the Winston-Salem Symphony while studying for her Bachelor’s degree at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, where she studied with Sheila Browne on full scholarship. She plays on a 2002 viola by Robert W. McCluskie.