Rachel Mercer

Described as a "pure chamber musician" (The Globe and Mail) creating "moments of pure magic" (Toronto Star), Canadian cellist Rachel Mercer has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician across five continents.

Grand prize winner of the 2001 Vriendenkrans Competition in Amsterdam, Rachel is Principal Cello of the NAC Orchestra in Ottawa and Co-Artistic Director of the "5 at the First" Chamber Music Series in Hamilton and Orleans, Ontario. Rachel plays with the Mercer-Park Duo, the St. John-Mercer-Park Trio and the Ironwood Quartet, and was cellist of the JUNO award-winning piano quartet Ensemble Made In Canada (2008-2020), the AYR Trio (2010-2020), and the Aviv Quartet (2002-2010). She has given masterclasses across North America, South Africa and Israel and talks on performance and careers in music.

An advocate for new Canadian music, Rachel has commissioned and premiered over 30 works, including cello concerti by Stewart Goodyear and Kevin Lau, as well as solo and chamber works by Vivian Fung, Andrew Downing, Alice Ho, David Braid, Kelly Marie-Murphy, John Burge, and Jocelyn Morlock. Recent chamber and solo albums include Kevin Lau: Under A Veil of Stars (Leaf Music), Our Strength, Our Song (Centrediscs), John Burge: One Sail (Naxos), Alice Ho: Mascarada (Centrediscs), and from 2012, the complete Bach Suites (Pipistrelle) with the 1696 Bonjour Stradivarius Cello from the Canada Council for the Arts Musical Instrument Bank. Rachel currently plays a 17th-century cello from Northern Italy.