r a c h e l m a s s e y , v i o l i n
A student of Yumi Hwang-Williams, Sally O'Reilly, Joey Corpus, and Mark Lakirovich, Rachel attended high school as a violin major at Denver School of the Arts, and furthered her violin and viola studies at Denver University and Longy School of Music. She has played under the direction of noted conductors David Zinman, Julius Rudel, Michael Stern, James DePriest and, most recently, Benjamin Zander of the Boston Philharmonic. Rachel has also performed by invitation at Music on the Rhine in Dusseldorf, Germany, Aspen Music Festival, and on viola at the Las Vegas Music Festival. Currently, she is a member of the Boston Philharmonic and associate principal for the Mercury Orchestra.
In addition to her work as a performer, Rachel teaches both conventional and Suzuki violin methods in her private studio in Jamaica Plain and at A Street Music LLC in Quincy.
d a n i e l h a w k i n s , c e l l o
Daniel is currently studying ethnomusicology in Newfoundland but has previously earned undergraduate degrees in composition (studying with Paul Lansky, Steve Mackey, and Dan Trueman) and cello performance (Sophie Shao, Susannah Chapman) from Princeton University as well as a Master's Degree in Contemporary Improvisation from the New England Conservatory (Natasha Brofsky, John Mallia, Anthony Coleman, Tanya Kalmanovitch). He has played with a variety of ensembles in addition to Driftwood, including Ran Blake's Film Noir Ensemble, the Joe Morris Ensemble, and the Boston Philharmonic, in venues as diverse as Boston's Jordan Hall, Brighton's Whole Foods, Carnegie Hall in New York, the streets of Jishou, China, the Rudolfinum in Prague, the Schönbrun Palace in Vienna, and the summit of Cadillac Mountain in Maine. He is the the recipient of both the Helen and Isidore Sacks Memorial Prize for Excellence in Classical Music as well as Princeton's Martin A. Dale '56 Fellowship. In June 2012, Daniel released a DVD of original multimedia art called Ride EP.
When not playing, writing, or field recording, Daniel enjoys swimming in natural bodies of water between the months of December and March, cooking, and not falling off his bicycle.
You can visit his website here.
- Watch Daniel play the Allemande from Bach's Suite No. 1 for Unaccompanied Cello -
m i c h e l l e b i s h o p , v i o l i n
In addition to her expertise in the classical realm (Philadelphia Orchestra, Philly Pops, Opera Company of Philadelphia), Michelle has had the pleasure of sharing the stage with great talents like Jill Scott, Josh Groban, Earth Wind, and Fire, Styx, Il Divo, Julie Andrews, Elvis Costello, and among others. She is also a prominent recording artist with credits including The Black Eyed Peas, Kid Cudi, John Legend, T.I., Justin Timberlake, Jill Scott, J-Lo, and NFL Films.
Her true passion is performing where music has no boundaries. Michelle hopes to use classical music skills to create popular music that will rock the house whether it be hip-hop, rock, or dance music.
Her full discography can be found here.