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Violinist Rachel Barton Pine Teaches Englewood Youths

By Wendell Hutson | May 12, 2014 1:27pm
 Rachel Barton Pine and 20 Chicago youths will give a free 6 p.m. performance on May 14, 2014 at Sherwood Park in Englewood.
Rachel Barton Pine and 20 Chicago youths will give a free 6 p.m. performance on May 14, 2014 at Sherwood Park in Englewood.
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ENGLEWOOD —Twenty Chicago youths, including six from Englewood, will learn to play the violin from Chicago violinist Rachel Barton Pine as part of a free class offered by the Chicago Park District.

Pine will perform with the at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the field house at Sherwood Park, 5701 S. Shields Ave.

Pine, a recipient of the Studs Terkel Humanities Service Award, is an international concert violinist who has recorded 25 albums. Before the accolades, however, she grew up in a financially struggling household in North Center, she has said, becoming her family's primary breadwinner at age 14.

Her music ranges from classical to lullabies to rock.

Inspired by some of the challenges she faced in her early years, and hoping to honor those people who helped her on her path to becoming a professional violinist, Pine formed the Rachel Elizabeth Barton Foundation in 2001. The foundation works to expand awareness of, and appreciation for, classical music, and supports and encourages talented young string players.

Pine has been visiting schools and talking with students for years.

"The idea is to get them thinking about what the music moves them to feel. I've been doing this since I was a teenager because it's important to inspire the audience of the future," she told Violinist magazine.

Pine suffered a near fatal accident in 1995, losing her left leg in a Metra accident in which her violin case strap was caught in a train door. She was awarded nearly $30 million in a civil case.