About ~Rachel Johnston~ Cellist

Rachel Johnston began playing the cello as a child in New Zealand and has since travelled around the world studying and performing in diverse projects covering all aspects of music making. As a classical cellist she was awarded several prizes in international competitions (Austria, Italy, UK) and studied at London University, with Alexander Ivashkin and Natalia Pavlutskaya, the Juilliard School in NY with Aldo Parisot, and the Cologne Hochschüle with the Alban Berg Quartet before becoming a member of the Australian String Quartet, with whom she performed for 7 years , becoming one of Australia's best-known cellists, performing for audiences across the country as well as in the US, UK, and Europe.

She has appeared at many of the country's leading festivals including the Australian Festival of Chamber Music, the Canberra International Chamber Music Festival, the Sydney International Festival, and Musica Viva's Huntington Festival of Music, and has curated programs for the Perth International Arts Festival and the Adelaide International Cello Festival. Rachel has performed with many great artists from Australia and abroad such as Nicolas Altstaedt, Anne-Sophie von Otter, Alina Abragimova, Piers Lane, Teddy Tahu Rhodes, Liwei Qin, Pieter Wispelwey, Slava Grigoryan, Katie Noonan, Sara Macliver, Fiona Campbell and the Goldner and Juilliard Quartets, and undertaken local collaborations with an array of leading artists including Kristian Chong, Kristian Winther, Anna Goldsworthy, Sally Walker, Nikki Vasilakis, Kirsten Williams and Daniel DeBorah.

 As a sought after performer and teacher Rachel has appeared in ensembles and as a soloist, taught masterclasses and given improvisation workshops in NZ, Australia, Europe, the UK, Singapore, China and New York. She has recorded for radio and international labels including Chandos and ABC Classics, toured with ARIA winning Australian artists such as Archie Roach and iconic rockers You Am I, was part of Missy Higgins' Encore Tour which won an ARIA award for Best Live Act in 2024, toured and performed with cabaret favourites Alan Cumming, Paul Capsis and Meow Meow, has given international premiere performances of works by Sofia Gubaidulina, Brett Dean and Elena Kats-Chernin as well as many local composers. 

Her passion is exploring music across various genres while celebrating its unique ability to unite, communicate and inspire through performance and teaching. 

Rachel has been a touring teaching artist for Musica Viva Australia In Schools since 2017 and is also studying towards a PhD in the area of non-classical cello techniques and repertoire, but is on temporary hiatus from the latter due to two adorable but slightly villainous children. She lives with said creatures and partner Trent Arkleysmith on a rural property in Majors Creek, NSW.