Rachel Mills
Cello - RCMSBiography
Rachel Mills is a Rochester based cello teacher, performer, and artist. Mills received her bachelor degree in cello performance from Oberlin Conservatory where she studied with Amir Eldan. While at Oberlin, she was a secondary lesson teacher and taught through the string prep department. Mills went on to study with Jan Ype Nota and Michel Strauss at the Royal Conservatoire of the Hague in the Netherlands, where she was the recipient of a Holland Scholarship and Excellence Scholarship.
Mills is passionate about finding creative ways to inspire younger audiences to engage with classical music. She has thrice traveled to Panama to teach and perform in connection with La Asociación Nacional de Conciertos and was invited as a faculty member to the SA’ Oaxaca Strings International Music Festival in Mexico. Mills is the cello teaching artist for ROCmusic, a Rochester city music program modeled after Venezuela’s El Sistema. She is also on faculty at the Hochstein School of Music and Dance and the Roberts Community Music School.
As a performer, Mills aims to mix musical periods, art disciplines, and performance settings. Mills has participated in advanced and fellowship chamber programs across the United States and the Netherlands and worked with award-winning groups ranging from the Grammy-nominated Chiara Quartet to the Grammy Award-winning Punch Brothers. She is currently part of a duo with Rochester based dancer and choreographer, Zoe Walders. For more information visit: www.rachelmills-cello.com